Terms of Trust: Arguments over Ethics in Australian Government

By John Uhr

$9.00

Public trust in Australia’s governments and our political leadership is at an all-time low, according to many opinion polls.

Shaken by years of broken promises, political spin, shady deals, obfuscation and even brazen lies, many consider the condition terminal. John Uhr says the situation is not irretrievable, though serious and immediate consideration needs to be given to finding means by which our political leaders can re-earn the confidence of the community.
In Terms of Trust John Uhr poses and answers fundamental questions about our governments’ leadership:

β€’ How can we make political leadership compatible with ethical leadership?
β€’ How relevant is personal character to public life?
β€’ Why do we need to widen the scope of ‘leadership’ to include all public officials and not just those at the top?
β€’ And, how can citizens become more informed about the extent of government trustworthiness?

With such questions and answers in mind, Australians can now get down to business and spell out the ‘terms of trust’ compatible with the exceptional high hopes – but also the everyday low practices – of our democracy.

Terms of Trust is the first book-length analysis of the role of ethics in Australian government. It scrutinises what actually happens in practice against the democratic theory and identifies strengths and weaknesses of public-sector ethics.

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