Disagreement and Expressions of Dissent Within Public Institutions
The paper explores the relation between disagreement and expressions of dissent within public institutions. Public servants can use their powers of office to express dissent with certain aspects of mandates and dispositions, especially when these conflict with their personal morality or broader mora...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Ethical theory and moral practice
Year: 2025, Volume: 28, Issue: 2, Pages: 293-311 |
| Further subjects: | B
Discourse Analysis
B Public Management B public institutions B Public Law B Public ethics of office B Disagreement B Dissent B Legal interpretation B Administrative Law B Civil Service / Bureaucracy B Public Administration |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The paper explores the relation between disagreement and expressions of dissent within public institutions. Public servants can use their powers of office to express dissent with certain aspects of mandates and dispositions, especially when these conflict with their personal morality or broader moral values. Additionally, public servants’ dissent can also be directed towards the raison d’être of a public institution if it perceived as objectionable. The paper focuses on disagreement as a source of dissent within public institutions. Expressions of dissent as a reaction to disagreement would arise from the interplay of the rights and duties accruing to individuals in different capacities and the structural uncertainty that pervades public institutions. Structural uncertainty stems from the open-ended nature of institutional raison d’être, the vagueness and ambiguity of legal provisions and office mandates, and the existence of multiple, non-orderly, and vaguely defined institutional functions and objectives that vary over time and space. The paper explores various types of disagreement resulting from this interplay and underscores how each type of disagreement can trigger expressions of dissent by public servants within public institutions. |
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| ISSN: | 1572-8447 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10677-025-10496-x |
