Introduction: Ethical Dilemmas, Social Values and Public Policy: The Context of Governance and Citizenship

Public policy affects everyone in society. There are winners and losers in each public policy or public policy action. Not only should public policy makers balance out winners and losers in public policy so that there will not be ‘permanent losers,’ they should also strike a balance between immediate, short-term ‘happiness’ and future, long-term ‘happiness.’ The search for ‘good governance’ is a continual human pursuit. Having sensible social values, defining the good, together with sound procedural and managerial values as means, will better safeguard ‘good governance.’ Building on the nascent scholarly attention to the role of values in governance, this book will examine a number of case studies of ethical dilemmas in public policy from the perspective of social values, giving food for thought for how to achieve good governance. The ability to analyze public policy issues rationally and make constructive suggestions to improve public policy will be an important characteristic of a good citizen, and sound citizenship education cannot be devoid of the social value dimension.