Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerilla
As mentioned in previous weeks, Cooper�s ethical decision-making model and Waldo�s Map of Ethical
Obligations assist responsible public administrators in assessing and addressing the ethical dilemmas
that they will confront during their careers. Public administrators must consider all underlying factors of a
dilemma and the potential solutions in order to ensure the most proper outcome. Sometimes the chosen
outcome may involve actions that serve to work against the wishes of superiors in the organization.
For this Assignment, review the case study in the text, �Guerrilla Government in EPA�s Seattle
Regional Office.� Identify an ethical issue within this case study. Consider the competing obligations and
responsibilities that these individuals faced and how they determined whether their actions were right.
Also, think about the impact of guerrilla government on the political appointees, organization, and public
policy.
The Assignment (3�4 pages in APA format): Your paper should include the following:
A description of the ethical issue you identified in the �Guerrilla Government in EPA�s Seattle Regional
Office� case study
A description of the issues the political appointees faced in this case and an explanation of federal ethics
law violations
An explanation of why you think the career employees were motivated to use guerrilla tactics as a
solution despite the risks to their careers (e.g., competing obligations) and whether their choice of
guerrilla action was ethical
An explanation of how these actions affected the organization and public policy
A description of the actions leaders within the EPA might have taken to manage guerrilla government and
an explanation of how those actions might have changed the outcome of the situation
An evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these lessons
Note: If you are more familiar with life in a nation outside of the United States, explain the potential
lessons for public administrators in that nation.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. Provide a
reference list with all resources included in the paper.
Your Assignment must demonstrate both breadth and depth of knowledge and critical thinking
appropriate to graduate-level scholarship. It must follow APA Publication Manual guidelines and be free of
GUERILLA GOVERNMENTS 2
typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. The assignment should be 3�4 pages in length (double-
spaced), not including the title page, abstract, and references.
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Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerilla
Abstract
Guerilla governments refer to actions of public servants who operate against the wishes of their
administrators. This paper explores the creation and development of guerilla governments and
their impact on the organization and public policy with regard to the “Guerilla Government in
EPA’s Seattle Regional Office” case study. The paper further describes the actions that the
administrators in the case study might have undertaken in order to manage the guerilla
government and how these actions could have changed the situation. Lastly, the paper provides
an evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these
lessons.
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Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerilla
A description of the ethical issue you identified in the “Guerrilla Government in EPA’s
Seattle Regional Office” case study
When President Reagan came to power in 1980, he made drastic changes in the federal
government. His purpose and mission was to reduce too much control by the government in the
private enterprise (Lash, Gillman & Sheridan, 1984). He was of the view that the previous
bureaucratic government had destroyed the American industry with too much regulation. After
appointing Anne Gorsuch as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
two handpicked regional administrators for the EPA who had similar beliefs. John Spencer a
good friend of Gorsuch, and Robie Russel were among the appointed regional administrators,
and they perfectly illustrate the subtle and sophisticated authority of guerilla government and
some conditions for the emergence of a guerilla government (O’Leary, 2014).
The guerilla government discouraged accountability and responsibility for actions done by some
government employees such as Spencer. Spencer misused public funds and used his official
position to further his own personal interests. Despite repeated warnings by career staff in his
respective Management Division that his personal expenditures using taxpayer’s funds violated
federal guidelines, Spencer continued to misuse the funds. In addition, Spencer violated
environmental laws and disregarded complaints from environmentalists. Spencer also failed to
enforce environmental laws as vigorously as possible despite EPA officials’ complaints that
there were potential threats to the City of Kent’s water supply. Russel also embezzled public
funds and violated environmental laws. He refused to accept the allegations lodged against him
and maintained that he had brought badly needed change to the EPA (O’Leary, 2014).
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A description of the issues the political appointees faced in this case and an explanation of
federal ethics law violations
Political appointees had problems with controlling and monitoring the actions of the regional
administrators due to the fact some of them feared acting on baseless grounds. For instance,
when the director of the Management heard of a complaint about Spencer’s misconduct, he
feared acting contrary to Spencer’s wishes due to the fact that he viewed Spencer’s misconduct
as a privilege and a duty of government employees when they see wrongdoing to turn it in
(O’Leary, 2014, p49). Another challenge that the employees faced was reassignment and
demotion by the administrators. Spencer reassigned and demoted the director of the Management
Division due to the fact that he repeatedly warned Spencer that he was violating procedures and
misusing public funds.
EPA officials also faced strong influence from administrators who forced them to violate laws
and ethical values. For instance, in the pulp mill case, Spencer forced the EPA staff to release
confidential information provided by ITT-Rayonier to two of ITT-Rayonier’s competitors.
Gorsuch misappropriated the EPA budget, demoralized the EPA staff and alienated Congress
through her refusal to furnish the investigation committee with information in the agency’s
Superfund program. Gorsuch also caused many appointees to be hired, fired, or promoted on
grounds of their political positions (O’Leary, 2014, p53). Russel excluded his deputy
administrator from meetings, which compelled the deputy to use guerilla tactics to raise his
concerns.
An explanation of why the career employees were motivated to use guerrilla tactics as a
solution despite the risks to their careers (e.g., competing obligations) and whether their
choice of guerrilla action was ethical
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Engaging in guerilla was not ethical due to the fact that it exacted personal costs to the self-
esteem of the career staff. Though there are people who feel self-righteous to engage in guerilla,
the fact that it compromises with loyalty and straightforwardness makes it unethical.
Nevertheless, these career staff employees abandoned these ethical values due to the motivation
that they were serving a greater good. Their acts were inspired by the urge to save human lives
out of a love of humanity and they believed that there was no formal medium for them to express
their concerns and solve the ethical and legal issues confronting them (O’Leary, 2014).
An explanation of how these actions affected the organization and public policy
Guerillas run the risk of being unregulated themselves. In some cases, guerillas fail to see the big
picture and they promote policies which are incompatible with the system as a whole (Katz &
Kahn, 1978). In other cases, guerillas making officers more consumed in fulfilling their own
expensive and instrumental purposes instead of the purposes of the organization. Guerillas affect
public policy due to the fact that they send different confusing messages to the public, thus
creating a negative impression (O’Leary, 2014).
A description of the actions leaders within the EPA might have taken to manage guerrilla
government and an explanation of how those actions might have changed the outcome of
the situation
The leaders should have promoted an organizational culture that allows and encourages open
dialogue and debate. Cultivation of a questioning attitude through encouragement of staff to
challenge organizational assumptions fosters innovation and creativity. Leaders should also have
learned to listen to the words and the language of dissent from the employees, and this could
have helped in providing a platform for discussion and coming up with effective solutions. It is
also important for leaders to understand the organization both formally and informally. This
GUERILLA GOVERNMENTS 7
gives the leader an opportunity to embrace any proactive changes and to make objective,
professional judgments when conflicts arise. Lastly, the administrators should have learnt to
separate the people from the problem as this fosters objectivity in decision-making (Fisher, Ury
& Patton, 2011).
An evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these
lessons
The case study shows that there are tendencies for decision makers and other stakeholders in an
organization to become blinded by their own feelings and thoughts concerning dissent due to the
fact that they majorly concentrate on their own careers, perspectives and programs as lone
beings. Being too concerned with one’s own tasks and feelings makes one unable to see the other
side of the dissent. Administrators should understand that guerillas will always exist and the
earlier they learn to deal with them the better (Balfour, 2007).
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References
Balfour, D. L. (2007). Book Review: Guerillas in Government? The Ethics of Dissent: Managing
Guerilla Government. The American Review of Public Administration, 37(1), 114-116.
Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without
giving in. Penguin.
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. (1978). The social psychology of organizations. NY: Wiley. KatzThe Social
Psychology of Organizations1978.
Lash, J., Gillman D., & Sheridan. D. (1984). A Season of Spoils: The Reagan Administration’s
Attack on the Environment. New York: Pantheon.
O’Leary, R. (2014). The Ethics of dissent: Managing guerrilla government (2nd ed.). Chapter 3,
Cq Press.
