15638 Ethics and Governance for Local Government
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject provides participants with an understanding of the key concepts and theories in ethical and moral reasoning and how these apply to organisations generally and to local government, and state-local government relations in Australia in particular. Completing this subject enables participants to:
- understand key theoretical concepts in ethical and moral reasoning, including deviance, corruption, stakeholder theory and the state, and different types of ethical reasoning, including consequentialist (egoist; utilitarian) and deontological (ie. rights-based) reasoning and virtue ethics.
- understand how these concepts apply to, and are implemented in institutions generally for [i] structuring these institutions; [ii] decision-making therein; [iii] managing and interacting with stakeholders (citizens; consumers; suppliers; competitors) and [iv] for policy-making in these areas in relation to (for example) positive discrimination, social justice and codes of conduct.
- understand how these principles are reflected in contemporary public organisations, particularly local governments and state-local relations, inclusive of the range of oversight mechanisms for local governments. For this subject, the jurisdictions of NSW, Victoria and Queensland are examined as case studies.
- apply these learnings to their professional, management and leadership practices.
Participants read, debate and extend their understandings of morality, corruption and misconduct. They examine institutions of oversight across select Australian local government jurisdictions, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in NSW, and the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) and the Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal (RDT) in Queensland. They examine a range of cases from these jurisdictions and apply principles of right and wrong, and good and bad to their work in local government. Learners throughout are encouraged to reflect on the integration of theory with practice and, in so doing, the academic and research skills of participants are enhanced.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Define and debate key theories relating to deviance, corruption and misconduct, as well as a range of ethical and moral theorising, and the legislative frameworks within which ethical and moral practices in state and local governments operate |
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| 2. | Build, extend and illustrate their understanding of these key theoretical concepts for local government and consequences of these for the practices local governance, specifically for management and leadership practice |
| 3. | Identify, examine and elaborate on current examples of types of oversight for state and local government, and the relationships between the two |
| 4. | Select, contrast and constructively apply these understandings to a range of organisational settings, in particular their own practices in local government as elected and/or appointed officials |
| 5. | Describe, develop and appraise arrangement of oversight that would meet the needs of public organisations and their communities |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Address issues in local government and intergovernmental organisations with an attitude that is open, ethical and empathetic (A.1)
- Reflect on personal views and values in the development of professional judgement and practice (A.3)
- Communicate and engage effectively with people from diverse perspectives and cultures across multiple platforms, acknowledging the status of Indigenous peoples to develop cross-disciplinary strategy (C.1)
- Synthesise and deliver well-informed, engaging and effective presentations in written, oral and digital formats for diverse audience types (C.2)
- Develop critically informed and innovative approaches to understanding local government and intergovernmental issues in domestic and international contexts (I.1)
- Apply processes of organisational practice and review for a broad range of policy fields across diverse types of organisations, relating to local government (P.1)
- Apply an advanced understanding of theories and debates in local government and intergovernmental relations, including Indigenous perspectives, and articulate this understanding across a range of organisational types (P.3)
- Conduct independent applied research to develop a deep understanding of complex policy problems and innovative, cross-disciplinary solutions pertaining to government and its stakeholders (R.3)
Teaching and learning strategies
For Spring 2020 this subject is run in both ‘Block’ and ‘Distance’ modes, ‘Block’ mode includes two ‘Block’ sessions, 3rd-5th August and 7th-8th September. Please note that due to restrictions that might be in place due to COVID-19, these ‘Block’ sessions’ may be held online using Zoom or a similar platform. In ‘Distance’ mode the subject is completed entirely online.
In both modes, the subject also includes regular postings on the subject’s homepage on ‘Canvas’, the UTSOnline platform. All students are encouraged to interact with both the Coordinator and each other utilising the Canvas platform. There is a strong emphasis on participants engaging in independent reading and reflection on the material through guided study. Three assessment tasks are submitted by each student undertaking the subject as part of a graduate program.
The subject utilises five main modes of teaching/learning, all underpinned by the principles of adult education:
Self-directed learning
Based on a flipped learning approach, participants engage in reading supported by the Canvas platform and through accessing core and additional readings through the UTSOnline system and the UTS library. Participants extend, test and reflect on their self-study in online sessions in which the material is organised into modules of teaching/learning (see ‘Content’ below) that strongly direct participants’ attention to the value and utility of integrating theory with practice. Extensive feedback in both written and oral forms is supplied.
Structured presentation of trends, issues and background research
Presented by UTS academic staff, the modules are based on government research and academic theory, focusing specifically on state and local government relations.
Active learning
Participants discuss course content and reflect on issues and practices within their own organisations, while comparing these with the experiences of their peers and other organisations. This includes work-based case studies and analysis, and the structuring and conduct of the assessments and the feedback provided to participants on the basis of those assessments (see ‘Assessment’ below).
Applying theory to practice
Participants apply ethical and moral theory to their own work situations and demonstrate this learning through the writing of a Professional Report.
Collaborative learning
Participants who have completed this elective subject regularly provide feedback that a noteworthy part of their learning and development can be attributed to the peer-to-peer contact, sharing and learning that occurs in the online discussions, methods that are explicitly included in the overall teaching/learning approach in order to promote peer learning.
Content (topics)
Module 1: Ethical and Moral Thinking: An Introduction and overview
Examines ways of understanding organisational ethics. Topics include the relationship between ethics, morality and law, theories of deviance, corruption and evil—moral theories (the ‘bad apples’ argument); economic and environmental theories (the ‘bad barrels’ argument)—and government as the site of the legitimate exercise of authority.
Module 2: Types of Ethical and Moral Theorising
Introduces the main types of ethical theorising. Includes the importance and role of ethical theory, differences in ethical thinking across the globe (European; North American and broadly ‘Asian’ approaches—and critiques hereof) and the principal strands of Western ethical theory, including consequentialist types (egoism and both ‘act’ and ‘rule’ utilitarianism) non-consequentialist types (rights-based theories and Kant’s ‘Categorical Imperative’ [CI]) and feminist and postmodern approaches. Virtue ethics is also considered.
Module 3: Stakeholder Theory
Introduces stakeholder theory to the subject. Historically stakeholder theory has been developed for ‘the firm’ (i.e.: private companies) and conceptually it is simple, recognising that firms interact with groups – shareholders; customers, employees and governments, for example – in more or less consistent ways. However, increasingly stakeholder theory has been applied to government generally and seems particularly relevant to sub-national tiers of government and their respective organisations (statutory authorities, for example).Module 3 investigates and problematizes the ‘stakeholder’ idea and investigates the main ethical issues for particular stakeholders.
Modules 1, 2 and 3 provide the philosophical and theoretical grounding for moving to examine organisational ethics for state and local government.
Module 4: State-Local Government Relations in Australia: An Overview
The normative dimensions of people’s lives and the institutions that comprise these lives cannot be understood a-historically. On the contrary: All institutions are both ‘path-dependent’ and are shaped by crucial periods of change. Module 4 provides an introduction to the history of Australia’s local government systems, emphasising the authority of the individual colonies and states over that of local government. The jurisprudential structure of state-local government relations in Australia is compared to similar systems, especially the U.S and the UK.
Module 5: Systemic Problems in Local Government in Australia
Drawing upon the ‘government failure’ literature, Module 5 examines systemic problems of local government in Australia. These include [i] ‘voter apathy’; [ii] asymmetric councillor capture; [iii] ‘iron triangles of councillor/developer/council relationships; [iv] ‘fiscal illusion’ associated with intergovernmental grants’ and [v] ‘political entrepreneurship’. Participants are required to identify examples of misconduct and corruption in state and local government that conform, or otherwise, to these types.
Modules 4 and 5 provide the social scientific (i.e.: historical; political-sociological; economic) grounding for moving to examine state-local government relations and the regimes of oversight for state and local government in Australia, in detail, in Modules 6 and 7.
Module 6: Oversight Mechanisms for State and Local Government: NSW and Victoria and Queensland
Examines the mechanisms of oversight and censure in Australia’s three most populous jurisdictions. Key elements of legislation and organisational operations are examined and worked through. The origins and operations of key institutions are examined, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in NSW; the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) and the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate (LGICI) in Victoria.
Modules 6 provides the institutional sociology, or context, for the application of managing organisational ethics in Module 7. Please note that due to restrictions governing the amount of content that subjects can fruitfully cover in the time allowed, oversight mechanisms for the jurisdictions of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are not examined in the subject. However, material for these jurisdictions is available on request.
Module 7: Making Ethical Decisions in Organisations
Provides participants with various models for making decisions ethically as well as examining the limits of ethical decision-making models. It examines individual influences on decision-making, including age, gender, education and employment, psychological factors, personal values, personal integrity and moral imagination (empathy and sympathy). It also examines situational influences on decision-making, inclusive of issue-related factors and context-related factors. Again, case studies from state and local government are utilised to explore these issues.
Module 7 also provides participants with tools and techniques for managing organisational ethics, as well as subjecting these to critical analysis. These include mission (or values) statements, codes of conduct and methods of assessing ethical performance, including ethical auditing. It also considers the validity of ethics programs, informal ethics management, including ethical climate and culture, and touches on business ethics leadership, explaining the relationship between this subject and 15610 Leading in Local Government and 15618 Contemporary Leadership in Local Government.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Online Post for Group Discussion
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.1, C.2, I.1, P.1 and R.3 |
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| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 20% |
Assessment task 2: Essay
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.3, C.1, I.1, P.3 and R.3 |
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| Type: | Essay |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
Assessment task 3: Theory-Practice Integration
| Intent: | The objective of this assignment is to enable you to demonstrate your competence in integrating different types of ethical and moral theorising, as well as stakeholder theory, as discussed in this subject, to professional practice. The assignment takes the form of a Professional Report which has been commissioned by an organisation (a local council; another statutory organisation, for example), designed for submission to the CEO (or General Manager) and the organisation’s Board of Directors (or elected representatives, including the mayor) as part of an ‘Ethical Audit’. It should be around 3,000 words in length. |
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.3, I.1, P.1, P.3 and R.3 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
Required texts
Crane, A. and Matten, D. 2010. Business Ethics. (4th Ed.).New York: Oxford University Press.
Recommended texts
The required texts for this subject combine [i] a ‘core’ text in business ethics; [ii] select readings in classical and modern theories of politics governance and corruption or fragments thereof; [iii] key legislative instruments of state and local government regulation, including relevant sections of the local government acts across Australia; [iv] the homepages and select documents from core institutions of state and local government oversight and [v] select readings in political studies and public administration as they apply to state and local governments. All readings are discussed in narrative form in a comprehensive ‘Subject Description and Guide to Readings’, which, as the key guide for self-directed study, is provided to participants well in advance of the first scheduled face-to-face session. Readings for the modules of the subject are distinguished according to whether they are ‘core readings’ or ‘additional readings and references’. The core readings (around 25 texts) are made available to participants online via Canvas. Participants are expected to access the additional readings by making using of the UTS library facilities (especially online access for journal articles) themselves.
Core readings include:
Aristotle. (2004). Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by F. H. Peters; Introduction by Hye-Kyung Kim. New York: Barnes & Noble.
Adam, A. M., and Rachman-Moore, D. 2004. ‘The methods used to implement an ethical code of conduct and employee attitudes’. Journal of Business Ethics 54: 225-244.
Atkinson, M. M., & Mancuso, M. 1985. ‘Do we need a code of conduct for politicians? The search for an elite political culture of corruption in Canada’. Canadian Journal of Political Science, XVIII (3): 459-480.
Brown, A.J. 2008. ‘In Pursuit of a “Genuine Partnership”: Local Government and Federal Constitutional Reform in Australia.’ University of New South Wales Law Journal 31(2): 435–66.
Chandler, J. 2008. ‘Liberal justifications for local government in Britain: The triumph of expediency over ethics’. Political Studies 56: 355-373.
DIRD [Department of Regional Development and Infrastructure]. 2014. Local Government National Report 2014-15.Canberra: DIRD.
DLG [Division of Local Government (NSW)]. ‘Model code of conduct for local councils in NSW’. URL: http://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/Model-Code-of-Conduct.pdf
DLGCRR [Department of Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience (Queensland Government)]. 2014. ‘Remuneration and discipline Tribunal’. URL: http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/about-local-government-and-councils/local-government-remuneration-and-discipline.html
DTPLI [Department of Transport, Planning, and Local Infrastructure (State Government of Victoria)]. ‘Complaints and investigations’. URL: http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/local-government/complaints-and-investigations
Durkheim, E. 1983. ‘Morality and obligation’, in Giddens, A. Durkheim on Politics and the State. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 154-158.
Erwin, P. M. 2011. ‘Corporate codes of conduct: The effects of code content and quality on ethical performance’. Journal of Business Ethics 99: 535-548.
Foucault, M. 1982. ‘The Subject and Power’, Critical Inquiry, 8(4): 777-795.
Grant, B. and Dollery, B. E. 2012. ‘Autonomy versus oversight in local government reform: The implications of “home rule” for Australian local government’. Australian Journal of Political Science 47(3): 99-214.
Grant, B., Dollery, B. E. and Kortt, M. 2015. ‘Is there a case for mandating directly elected mayors in Australian local government? Lessons from the 2012 Queensland local government elections’. Australian Journal of Public Administration. DOI: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8500.12057/abstract
Haidar, A. and Spooner, K. 2009. ‘Community not the councillors: A study of commitment of Australian senior council officers working under a politicised employment relationship’. Australian Journal of Public Administration 68(2): 139-151.
ICAC [Independent Commission Against Corruption]. ‘Annual Reports’. URL: http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/publications-and-resources/list-of-all-current-icac-publications
ICAC [Independent Commission Against Corruption]. 2015. ‘Past Investigations’. URL: http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/investigations/past-investigations
Jenkins, R. 2001. ‘Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy’. Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
Krane, D., N.R. Platon and M.B. Hill Jr. 2001. Home Rule in America. A Fifty State Handbook. Washington: CQ Press.
Machiavelli, N. 1981. The Prince and Other Writings/Niccolo Machiavelli; selected and translated with introduction and notes by Bruce Penman. London: Dent.
MAV, VLGA, LGV and LGPro [Municipal Association of Victoria, Victorian Local Government Association, Local Government Victoria and Local Government Professionals]. 2012. ‘Good governance guide’. URL: http://www.goodgovernance.org.au/
Power, J., Wettenhall, R. and Haligan, J. 1981. Local Government Systems of Australia. Canberra: AGPS.
Waldron, J. 2010. ‘Torture, Suicide and Determination’. American Journal of Jurisprudence 55: 1-29.
Williams, B. 1978. ‘Politics and moral character’, in Hampshire, S. (Ed.), Public and Private Morality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.