Violating the public trust: The ethical and moral obligations of government officials

A persistent issue in public personnel is a concern with violations of the public trust by public servants and elected officials. This article (1) exa mines the public trust concept, (2) presents a philosophers thoughts on why public officials misbehave, (3) reviews the ethical and moral violations f ound in public service and (4) shows attempts to correct the problems. The author concludes the article by calling on the individual employee to prote st against policies and directives he or she considers detrimental to the p ublic good, even if it means resigning from public service.