When leaders fail: the pathology of “conscience dust” and the architecture of integrity in public administration

Purpose To examine the critical role of public leadership in preventing systemic ethical erosion. The study argues that leadership failures create “conscience dust,” a gradual decay of professional ethics, and proposes a multi-level framework, the “Architecture of Integrity,” to counteract it, with special reference to the Hellenic (Greek) Public Administration. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a systematic literature review (PRISMA, 2020 guidelines) to synthesize models from public