To 'Re-Hatch' Public Employees or Not? An Ethical Analysis of the Relaxation of Restrictions on Political Activities in Civil Service

摘要

In brief, restoring Hatch-like policies will enhance the integrity and professionalism of employees while simultaneously improving accountability by focusing attention on the general public interest. Alternatively, it can be argued that adequate protections already exist to avoid or correct abusive practices that may occur. Cultivating personal integrity is preferable to heavy-handed regulation and thus a return to questionable past policies as imprudent. Yet virtue theory's strength—subjective judgments inferred from personal character—is also its shortcoming: If supporters and opponents of Hatch Act restrictions perceive they are good, then it is not implausible for them to think that what they do is good.