Ethics in Public Administration

Meaning of ethics in administration/governance

The term public service ethics or administrative ethics refers here to principles and standards of right conduct in the administrative sphere of government.

1. Ethics in politics
2. Ethics in the legislature
3. Ethics in the political executive
4. Ethics in permanent executive (bureaucracy)
5. Ethics in regulators

Importance of Ethics/values in Public Administration

Public servants have traditionally been advised that responsible administrative behaviour requires that they adhere to several generally worded rules or commandments such as:

• Act in the public interest
• Be politically neutral
• Do not disclose confidential information
• Provide efficient, effective and fair service to the public
• Avoid conflicts of interest
• Be accountable

Several difficulties arise from these generally worded commandments:

• Lack of clarity and certainty in their meaning and how to use them in practice.
• The formulation of the rules has been top-down rather than bottom-up. For them to be effective, they must not only be externally accepted but also internalized. The appropriateness of rules can thus be questioned. For example, political neutrality although a core principle of civil services is practically unimplementable. The working relations between civil servants and politicians make it difficult to be neutral.
• Third, the rules sometimes clash with one another, at least in interpretation. Often the correctness of decisions is defended by being target oriented whereas indecision is defended by being means/rules oriented. Efficiency, speed and effectiveness may sometimes compromise objectivity, accountability, responsibility and empathy.
• There is also a need to ensure that there is a continuous evaluation and evolution of rules of decision-making in light of the socio-economic-political change in the country.

General reasons:

• To maintain a general will (Rousseau) in your favour, otherwise, the government may be changed by people.
• To fulfil the obligation of the social contract (Thomas Hobbes, John Locke)
• Following one’s moral duty will help in making his action a universal action (deontology of Kant).
• Following ethics in administration may promote the greatest good to the greatest numbers (Bentham, JS mill).
• Following ethics in administration may ensure justice in society (Jhon Rawls)
• To uphold the integrity
• To ensure transparency
• To secure national interest
• Ethics help Civil Services to ensure the achievement of the highest possible standards in all that the Civil Service does.
• Ethics/Values provide a framework for accountability between the public and the administration and ensure that the public receives what is due to it in a fair and just manner so that it is widely acceptable

Legal reasons:

• Constitutional obligation
• Article 14 makes it an obligation for civil servants to be impartial.
• Tolerance stems from the constitutional value of secularism.
• Objectivity and the rule of law come from the constitutional directive of articles 14 and 15.
• Code of conduct.

The ethical obligations of public services:

• Selflessness
• Integrity
• Honesty
• Compassion
• Dedication
• Probity
• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Economy

Impacts of lack of ethics in administration

• Loss of legitimacy.
• Trust and credibility will be eroded.
• Social capital will dilute.
• The developmental process will be slow.
• Good governance will not be possible.

Thus, we can say that values are essential components of organisational culture and instrumental in determining, guiding and forming the behaviour of civil servants. Thus, good governance requires the selection, profession, practice and propagation of the finest values and ethics prevailing at different levels in different societies and cultures.

Factors affecting ethics/determinants of ethics in administration

Historical factors:

Corruption in the Indian system has its roots in colonial rule.

On the other hand, Japanese society has a history of high ethical standards in public life.

Legal Factors:

Impartial implementation of law promotes ethical; behaviour in the administration like the UK (Prime Minister Boris Jonson's party case). On the other hand in the case of India, even relatives of MLA consider themselves above the law (BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, was caught on camera attacking a Municipal Corporation officer with a cricket bat in Indore, 2019)

Socio-cultural factors:

Administrative class emerges from society itself. Values and behavioural patterns prevalent in society are likely to reflect in the conduct of administration. The cultural system including its religious orientation appears to play a significant role in influencing the work ethics of its people.

It is usually seen that developing countries lack ethics compared to developed countries. It is also said that the constitution has been imposed upon people. The values of, liberty, fraternity, equality and Justice were imposed on people by the Constitution. We may not have been ready for it.

That’s why we are seeing the dominance of caste (Rohit Vemula case), gender (Former Andaman & Nicobar Islands chief secretary Jitendra Narain was accused of gang rape), and religion (Delhi police personnel were seen physically assaulting five Muslim men while forced them to sing the national anthem 2020) based discrimination in Indian administrative system.

Economic Factors:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs shows that the fulfilment of basic needs comes before the fulfilment of other psychological needs. Ethics is a need of the mind rather than the belly. Violence is normal in resourceless areas. History shows that riots have happened in poverty-stricken areas in Kerala versus UP.