政治倫理簡單地說，就是人類在政治活動或行為中相互對待之道，或在政治領域內所應遵循的規範。孔子曾說：「為政以德，譬如北辰，居其所，而眾星拱之。」便是一套政治倫理的論述。無論東西方，從古到今其實都有不少有關政治倫理的論述，希臘大哲亞理斯多德將倫理學與政治學都歸類為實踐哲學，倫理學研究的目的是追求個人一己的善與幸福，政治學的目標則在追求城邦的共善與人類共同的福祉。並且將政治學的地位列為所有學科之上，因為政治學所追求的目標是人類社會整體的共善或共同福祉，在善的目的層次上是最高的，也因此政治學與倫理學有不可分割的關係。本文計畫中的架構如下：首先將說明政治倫理的意義與範圍；其次將闡述政治倫理與政治文化的關係；第三將一一列舉政治倫理上的重大基本課題，包括如：民主政治中的權謀與道德、科層制度中的道德責任、官箴與吏治的澄清、立法的倫理、擔任公職者的公私領域分際等；最後的結論則總結：政治倫理的研究為建立健全民主政治與民主進一步深化，不可或缺的一環。

Political ethics can be simply defined as the rules of mutual treatment among people in the political activities, or norms to be followed by people in the political arena. Confucius said, ”He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.” This is a good example of exposition of political ethics. The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, classified politics and ethics as practical philosophy, regarding both studies not only as a branch of human knowledge, but also as a practice to be realized in human life. These two subjects are interrelated to each other, because ethics pursues the highest good, i.e., happiness of the individuals, while politics pursues the highest common good of the polis or the whole society. Both aim at the highest good, and happiness, but politics ranks the highest among all subjects. The paper consists of four parts. In the first place, we shall try to define what political ethics is and also its scope. Secondly, we shall try to expound the relationship between political ethics and political culture. Thirdly, we shall try to select some basic issues in the political ethics. Fourth, and in conclusion, we point out that the study and the education of political ethics is an inescapable element in building up a sound democracy.