Annabelle Lever and Andrei Poama, The Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy (New York, NY: Routledge, 2018). 560 pp.; $145.03 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9781138201279.

• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Author: Ratna Okhai
• Date: 01 September 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13410

Book Reviews 983

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 5, pp. 983–985. © 2021 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13410.

Reviewed by: Ratna Okhai

University of Central Florida

Annabelle Lever and Andrei Poama, The Routledge Handbook

of Ethics and Public Policy (New York, NY: Routledge, 2018).

560 pp.; $145.03 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9781138201279.

The very concept of ethics is often considered

too big to ever respond to adequately. In

public administration, specifically, ethics

hold a prevailing role that is constantly questioned

and evolving. Due to this, the topic and literature of

ethics in public service must be adequately updated

constantly, keeping in mind the policy changes that

affect administration. The Routledge Handbook of

Ethics and Public Policy (New York: Routledge, 2018)

edited by Annabelle Lever and Andrei Poama attempts

to augment the perception of ethics in Public Policy

literature through the support of academics from

around the world who discuss the role of ethics in

public policy from a variety of viewpoints and topics.

A strong and globally sourced companion for students

of public policy, this book can also serve as a reference

point for those who wish to broaden their academic

horizons with scholarly contributions of a diverse

range of authors who have provided an intriguing

perspective from inherently different lens of ethics

and public policy. When looking at the National

Association of Schools of Public Affairs (NASPAA)

accreditation guidelines, there is no explicit ethics

requirement in teaching; however, it has become

an essential component of Public Administration

teaching and practice. The editors attempt to organize

the breadth of information from the contributors into

four major sections, with methodology, democracy/

public policy, public goods, and the challenges.

Within these sections, each scholar takes on a topic

of interest to break down for the reader, creating a

volume of work that can serve as an ethics and public

policy (EPP) guide for both students and practitioners

alike.

The chapters contributed for the Methodology section

focus on the historic and normative base of ethics,

with chapters ranging from its role in public policy

to models utilized to explain democratic decision-

making. The editors refuse to “commit to a specific

view of democracy…given the extent of philosophical

and political controversy” (Lever and Poama 2018,

5), a sentiment echoed by many contributors, setting

the tone for the chapters. This section is the most

overarching in the book, first providing a discourse

on policy and philosophy, then delving into EPP and

“its aspiration to civic usefulness” (Howard 2018,

“Routledge”, 28) as well as its ability “to follow the

argument and understand why the author takes it to

make sense” (Lever and Poama 2018, 29). Poama, for

instance, delineates EPP from the lens of practicality,

rather than metaethics, while noting that this is

by no means the only or ideal lens to explain EPP.

Furthermore, this chapter sets the tone for the reason

behind the necessity of understanding EPP. A 2001

study of “The Profession of Public Administration:

An Ethics Edge in Introductory Textbooks?”

(Bowman, Berman and West) dissects Ethics in Public

Administration textbooks. They conclud that while

many have increasingly included the factual facets of

the subject, as a “key to the identity and legitimacy of

the public service” (Bowman, Berman and West 2001,

202), the nuances of ethics must be addressed going

forward. The methodology chapters in Lever and

Poama’s work provide discourse on many of these

nuances.

The second section of the book delves into the role of

government and public policy, and how their control

and dictation of how societies function affects the

ethics for those affected. The contributors in this

section discuss topics such as foreign policy, tax, trade,

criminal justice, and education, to name a few. The

intent of these chapters is to shed light on how to

think ethically about governmental policies, keeping

in mind that the ethics of war and that of taxes have

distinctive justifications. A poignant example of this

is from Benjamin Goold, who notes, “imagine a

policy-maker who is convinced that privacy rights

do not extend to public spaces…is there anything

for them to consider if they are unconcerned with

rights?” (Goold 2018, “Routledge”, 105). Examples

like this, peppered throughout the book, provide

practical insights for the inexperienced reader on

the topic. This aligns with the twentieth century

discourse on Buchanan and Tulloch’s rational utility

Ratna Okhai is a Doctoral Student in the

Public Affairs program at the University of

Central Florida in Orlando, FL. Her areas of

interest include emergency management,

the next generation of technology and

governance, and collaborative governance

hrough network analysis.

E-mail: okhair@knights.ucf.edu

Book Reviews

Galia Cohen, Editor