(Online Course) Public Administration for IAS Mains Exams
Topic: Personnel Administration: Administrative Ethics
The ethical and moral ideals underlying the philosophy of administration in many countries have meant that public servants exhibit such traits as setting a high standard of conduct, espirit de corps, self-sacrifice, public duty and general concern for the social good.
Unfortunately, such ideals have come into conflict with the narrow outlook which is characteristic of unions and employee associations. The latter have rather emphasised the view that the public service is merely a job. They would rather not accept the traditional role of public servants wherein duty to serve the community at all times, and sacrificing even one’s personal life for the higher cause were considered more important than the union’s approach to work ethics. Thus modern public administration faces an inherent-conflict between the traditional expectation of those officials who serve the State, and the alternative expectation of government employees who believe that their obligations to serve are restricted only to those duties that are part of their job classification, and for which they can be held legally, but not necessarily morally, responsible.
Background
The administrative culture of the third world nations is based on its colonial legacy, and other influences which has charged its character since independence.
While the colonial administration was known for efficiency, loyalty, impartiality and high ethical standards; it also suffered from excessive self-importance, indifference (to common man’s needs and aspirations), and an obsession with status and rules/regulations.
Bureaucracy is known for traditional values as obedience, integrity, anonymity, political neutrality, chain of command, fairness, professionalism, and considering public service as a vocation. The moral foundation of any public service organisation in a democracy is based on the concept that administrators and public officials must show a genuine case for their fellow citizens. Otherwise, devoid of such moral basis, a situation akin to Nazi bureaucracy may emerge where job security and personal ambition became watchword, sacrificing moral obligation of acting as a “public servant.” Democratic values, such as equality, law, justice, rights and freedoms have moral connotations, and demand an unwavering commitment from those who govern.
The contemporary pre-occupation in ethics in government has arisen due to several factors:
1. The continued growth in size, scope and complexity of
government and its resultant negative attributes (generally referred to as
Leviathan of the Administrative State);
2. Insistence of public towards open accountable government;
3. Demand for enhancing and protecting individual rights and freedoms;
4. A general feeling of disappointment with the conduct of elected public
officials and frustration with the erosion of the concept of service and
dedication among government employees;
5. Growing cynicism about the capacity of government leaders to protect the
quality of environment, and their ability to enhance human dignity; and
6. A deep feeling that people in politics and administration are not to be
trusted.
7. Increasing corruption at various levels- “The state is now in peril. As the
saying goes, if the fence begins to devour the field no one can possibly
protect. This is happening to the Indian state. Many of those incharge of its
machinery have begun to use it to advance their petty interests at the cost of
the future of the country. To say that corruption has become a way of life is to
understate the magnitude of the problem. There was corruption before. It has now
become loot.”