Ethics in Government: A Guide for Citizens and Residents

Name: Ethics in Government: A Guide for Citizens and Residents
Rating: 4.7 (5 reviews)

Good government requires ethical government officials: Citizen voters elect officials and the government.

Created byJohn Bandler

Last updated 8/2025

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

An enhanced appreciation for the need for ethics in government
The importance of evaluating candidate ethics prior to voting
Ethics in the context of rules, civil laws, and criminal laws
Fundamentals of U.S. law and democracy
Check the course length. Only so much can be covered. Additional free resources available

Course content

1 section • 8 lectures • 1h 58m total length

Pre course reflection exercise - Ethics in Government (EIG)
Why We Should Care About Ethics in Government (and Introduction)18:39
Explore why ethics in government matters for citizens and residents, define ethics as doing the right thing for the right reasons, and outline the US government structure and voters' role.
Post Lecture 1 recap quiz
Ethics Introduced25:44
Define ethics as doing the right thing for the right reason and serving the right interests, highlighting conflicts of interest in government.
Pre Lecture 3 quiz
The Framework of U.S. Law and the Role of the Citizen20:56
Explore the framework of U.S. law and the citizen’s role, focusing on voting, jury duty, and understanding the Constitution, the three branches, and the rule of law.
Prioritizing Ethics in Government12:51
Prioritize ethics in government by ensuring officials act for the proper interests with integrity, disclose and avoid conflicts of interest, and serve constituents with transparency, distinguishing personal from official failings.
Weighing and Analyzing Criteria for Voter Choices13:51
Weigh ethics against other factors to choose the best candidate, balancing past actions, future promises, party, and key issues.
What Influences Voters?13:51
Examine how voters are influenced by proper information, manipulation, and emotion from parents, teachers, campaigns, media, and foreign actors, and why campaign financing transparency matters for elections.
Quick reflection on Lecture 6
Let’s Talk Through Some Examples10:36
Explore real-world ethics examples from Nixon to Adams to determine what constitutes ethical conduct for citizens and residents, using an objective, nonpartisan, fact-based standard.
We Can Do Better (Conclusion)2:24
Demand better ethics in government, stay vigilant as citizens and voters, research facts, apply ethics across party lines, and treat every vote as meaningful.
Post course reflection exercise

Requirements

Desire to learn about ethics in government through a no-nonsense, no frills, lecture
There are no real requirements or prerequisites
Solid English comprehension helpful
Ten to twenty minute attention span to make it through each classroom style lecture
Ability to tolerate a PowerPoint slide deck and my lecture
Kind and collegial learners appreciated
Realizing this is just a lecture and my PowerPoint, without fancy video editing or graphics

Description

We all need to know about government, good government, and ethics in government. I share my perspective with you in this short, free, mini-course.

This course is not for everyone! But it is right for some. It is academic type lectures, using my PowerPoint slides, my research, my brain, my skills (such as they are). There are no fancy graphics and no fancy video editing. It is not entertainment and you will need an attention span of ten to twenty minutes. Consider your personal preferences, and see a few sample videos before you decide if this is right for you. If you have a problem or need something, message me.

Why this course? Government is important. The United States is the longest running Constitutional democracy, a nation of laws and citizen participation, and we cannot take it for granted. Voters and future voters need to consider the importance of selecting honest and ethical government officials. Every other country in this planet should have ethical people running their government, and citizens and residents should strive for that. If I can reach a few people with that message, then the hours I have spent on this course will be worth it.

Here is the outline (don't forget to download the handout with lecture 1 and see my resources webpage).

1. Why Ethics in Government (Intro)

2. Ethics Introduced

3. The Framework of U.S. Law 4. Prioritizing Ethics in Gov’t

5. Criteria for Voter Choices

6. What influences voters?

7. Some examples

8. We can do better (Conclusion and Thank You)

Good knowledge about government, law, and ethics is for everyone on this Earth to understand, and especially in the United States, because that is my country and the country I know.

I present this valuable information to you for free, as my gift to you. If you see that it is valuable, as described, and find it worthy of a five star review or other expression of appreciation, thank you.

Building these courses is a hobby for me, I do not have significant video recording skills, nor hardly any video editing skills, and there is no production team. It's slide and lectures. This course has almost no editing, so you will hear my pauses and misspeaks, warts and all.

Who this course is for:

This course is for most anyone interested in learning about good government principles and ethics in government
This course is for learners who can tolerate a no-frills lecture, with PowerPoint, that is not entertainment
Learners with a 10-20 minute attention span for each lecture
Kind an collegial learners
Those seeking information but not edutainment. I am not an entertainer, just trying to provide solid information