Core Values in Public Administration and Policy: Three Levels of Evaluation in the Public Sector

Emily Brandt, PhD
Adjunct Professor
The University of Texas at Arlington
Program Manager, Business Development
Center for European Policy Analysis

This dissertation is composed of three separate but interrelated papers that examine the role of core values in public administration and public policy and how they show up at the societal, bureaucratic, and individual levels to inform the identification of the use of values, engaging proper awareness of how these values impact public sector actions, and how individuals can engage the right values frameworks in the face of conflict in various public and public service contexts. The first paper takes a societal look at core values via a systemic literature review on American morality policies; policies that inspire great debate not because of their intrinsic value, logically based reasoning, or data-informed decisions, but instead focus on the symbolic messages these policies convey to a polity about what core values are held in higher esteem by a society. The second paper analyzes where bureaucrats believe the locus of ultimate responsibility for change lies after they publicly contest a policy’s enforcement, compliance, or regulation on the grounds of moral and ethical considerations. Finally, the third paper proposes a conceptual definitional framework of morally conscious decision-making; a concept that can be used by individual public administrators to make values-based decisions when facing a dilemma, to ensure moral engagement in public sector work. Together these three papers help illustrate the influence of core values on public policy and administrative issues.

Emily Brandt is an adjunct professor at University of Texas at Arlington and a Program Manager at the Center for European Policy Analysis. She recently completed her doctoral degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington, and previously earned her Master’s Degree from the University of North Texas in International Studies. She has spent the past 10 years working at international development nonprofits on programs focused on promoting democracy, human rights, and governance primarily in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Her work has been published in Administration and Society, and she has two forthcoming articles exploring bureaucratic objection in the media and codifying societal values in public policy.

Dissertation Advisors

• First Advisor: Alejandro Rodriguez, PhD
• Second Advisor: Emily Nwakpuda, PhD
• Third Advisor: Karabi Bezboruah, PhD