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The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government
From "constructive contributors" to "deviant destroyers," government guerrillas work clandestinely against the wishes of their superiors. These many public servants are dissatisfied with the actions of the organizations for which they work, but often choose not to go public with their concerns. In The Ethics of Managing Guerrilla Government, Second Edition , Rosemary O’Leary shows that the majority of guerrilla government cases are the manifestation of inevitable tensions between bureaucracy and democracy, which yield immense ethical and organizational challenges that all public managers must learn to navigate. Alongside updates to her original cases, O’Leary offers a new case on Private Bradley Manning and the WikiLeaks scandal, as well as new mini-stories for her Interlude sections.
- GenresNonfiction
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 13, 2018
I really enjoyed O’Leary’s take on Guerilla government, that is, dissent in its entrepreneurial form. She uses great examples of mid-low level public servants that challenged the status quo within their organizations to follow through on what, they believed, the purpose of those organizations are: serving the public.
She does not blindly prescribe any solutions with respect to the issue of dissent. Rather, she outlines the complexities faced by public leaders in their duties to lead public institutions, and serve the public interest. Moreover, the individuals within those organizations are the public as well; set with a myriad of values and beliefs that orient, what Terry Cooper in “The Responsible Administrator” would call a subjective responsibility held outside their duties, or objective responsibilities, of their profession.
Ultimately, if leaders and public organizations are not responsive to the dissent churning under their charge, Guerilla activity, in terms of pushing policing initiatives, starts to unfold. This is told through several examples painted throughout the text. She is careful to address that not all dissent and personal ethics are valuable. In some examples, she lays out very subtle and controversial analysis addressing the complexities involved with Guerilla activity. Notably, Army Intelligence Analyst Bradley Manning’s (Chelsea Manning now) case of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks.
Although Manning felt the urge to engage in Guerilla activity to address, what he and many felt as wartime atrocities, the dangers involved with his subjective responsibility existed. In fact, 1,300 documented cases of actual lives lost are attributed to his actions alone. Therefore, she gives us worthy insight on a matter effecting ethical leadership and the potential dangers involved if not carefully balanced with healthy dissent.
Ultimately, these issues will continue to persist and influence the ethical decision-making in our best public servants for the foreseeable future. This is a valuable text for anyone considering ethics in public administration.
She does not blindly prescribe any solutions with respect to the issue of dissent. Rather, she outlines the complexities faced by public leaders in their duties to lead public institutions, and serve the public interest. Moreover, the individuals within those organizations are the public as well; set with a myriad of values and beliefs that orient, what Terry Cooper in “The Responsible Administrator” would call a subjective responsibility held outside their duties, or objective responsibilities, of their profession.
Ultimately, if leaders and public organizations are not responsive to the dissent churning under their charge, Guerilla activity, in terms of pushing policing initiatives, starts to unfold. This is told through several examples painted throughout the text. She is careful to address that not all dissent and personal ethics are valuable. In some examples, she lays out very subtle and controversial analysis addressing the complexities involved with Guerilla activity. Notably, Army Intelligence Analyst Bradley Manning’s (Chelsea Manning now) case of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks.
Although Manning felt the urge to engage in Guerilla activity to address, what he and many felt as wartime atrocities, the dangers involved with his subjective responsibility existed. In fact, 1,300 documented cases of actual lives lost are attributed to his actions alone. Therefore, she gives us worthy insight on a matter effecting ethical leadership and the potential dangers involved if not carefully balanced with healthy dissent.
Ultimately, these issues will continue to persist and influence the ethical decision-making in our best public servants for the foreseeable future. This is a valuable text for anyone considering ethics in public administration.
September 9, 2019
I read this for class, but it wasn't a text-y textbook. It was actually really interesting. O'Leary uses a few case studies of whistle blowers to look at the idea of dissent in government - what she calls "guerrilla government". Basically, working on change from the inside out.
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January 23, 2025Read it for class, feels wrong to rate it but want credit for my goals! Essentially do you think whistlelowers are traitors or heros for their country. This ethics class will be fun this semester with this new administration.
January 31, 2018
Asks important questions. Highlights great examples to bring to life those questions. Short, sweet, needs updating.
November 20, 2018
The constant struggle and tension between personal opinions and working for an administration you disagree with. Where is the line?
April 19, 2020
My only complaint is that despite including instances of Ms. Manning's gender transition, O'Leary misgendered her completely.
February 7, 2017
Study of 'guerrilla government', where members of a government bureaucracy undermine their leadership or agency heads.
'Guerrilla government' involves a wide range of activity. The extreme cases are those of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and of Chelsea Manning, but not every case is like that. Guerrilla behavior runs the scale of simply ignoring orders, communicating with the media, working with civil society groups, and so on. There are several dozen vignettes across multiple U.S. agencies.
'Guerrilla government' involves a wide range of activity. The extreme cases are those of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and of Chelsea Manning, but not every case is like that. Guerrilla behavior runs the scale of simply ignoring orders, communicating with the media, working with civil society groups, and so on. There are several dozen vignettes across multiple U.S. agencies.
June 12, 2016
Excellent book and very revealing about the dynamics of dissent in various public organization. I really enjoyed the real-world examples and the accessibility of her writing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews