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Moral responsibilities of trustees: Some first thoughts
Author(s) -
Smith David H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
nonprofit management and leadership
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.844
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1542-7854
pISSN - 1048-6682
DOI - 10.1002/nml.4130020404
Subject(s) - fiduciary , law , law and economics , sociology , public reason , political science , public relations , duty , politics , democracy
The role of a trustee is unclear to most people, including many trustees. The author proposes a view of trustees as persons who have public responsibility for private or independent provision of a public good. This is a moral definition of trusteeship; without trusteeship a pluralist society would be in trouble. The author argues that trustees should be constrained by fiduciary duties, the common good, an interpretative responsibility, and some procedural norms.