Conclusions and Prospects

This concluding chapter summarizes the arguments and findings for developing green public ethics in democracies. The arguments are based on different traditions of ethical pragmatism combined with deep insights into the political nature of public policy processes. It is concluded that Weberian bureaucratic principles and rationalistic decision methods limit the possibility for ethical reasoning. It is further argued that this is waste of competence and experience since it is possible for officials to both adopt ethical reasoning and prevent and counteract unethical behaviors in policy processes. These practices can be further spread and institutionalized, making policy processes more transparent and intelligent.