Role of Ethics in Public Administration, Research Paper Example

Introduction

What is public administration in the public sector? Public administration is responsible for overseeing the government and translating laws into action. Public administration is the frontline of defense that administers the ethical behavior for our police department and our city departments. Public administration is intertwined into our everyday lives and every branch of the government. Public administrations areprimarily concerned with the behavior of government officials and their conduct. In government many public authorities are seen as public administrators which include any government department head at all levels of government.Government ethicsdictates the ethical standards and rules that the government sets in place for the good of the public sector. The public administration ethics are responsible for addressing the police corruption, regulatory ethics, government bribery, conflict of interest at the government level and political unethical acts. In recent years, there has been a great deal of change associated with the implementation of administrative ethics. These changes have been promoted and motivatedby the concept of public administration in the new era (Radhika, 2012).

Ethics in the public sector is the pulse of the moral fibers of a government. The definition of public administration is a public agency that is charged with the administration of government functions. The role of ethics in public administration is dependent on the public administrations abilities to be the guardianof ethics for the citizens of the public sector. It is important that every public administration adhere to the moral and ethical codes of the land. In our society today, the public administrationssector should have discussions on the importance of ethical behavior, which every government agency is expected to comply and be in accordance with thehighestethical standards. A prevailing theme thus far relates to the capacity of those in public service to engage a principal moral reasoning that scrutinizes organization culture (Frederickson, 2001). Incorporating these values into thedecision-making process allows for a more comprehensive lens, one inclusive of normative andconstitutional principles, through which administrators view the takings process (Olejarski, 2010). There are many definitions of public administration that have been presented in the last decade. In a public administration climate a public administrators oversees every aspect of public service at the city, state and federal levels ensuring that that each branch abides by the moral and ethical standards set forth.

In real life, many citizens do not understand specifically what a public administration in the public sector is supposed to do within the confines of a government. The examples of public administration officials do not always set the example for what should or should not be ethical behavior. Nonetheless, the observable public administration officials are in the public eye running the government at the highest level in the land. American citizens should have expectations that the public sector will guide and expect government employees to uphold the highest of ethical standards.Ethics is a body of principles or standards of human conduct that govern the behavior of individuals and groups (Bottorf,n.d..pg.1, as cited in Gehrke, 2008).

Public administration as a practice has continually evolved with American society. The United States has endured and flourished through major cultural shifts, varying degrees of economic climates both civil and world wars. Throughout all these changes in our country, one thing has always remained the same, the fact that we are an ever evolving and always changing nation. There have been numerous events in American history have led to changes in society and the practice of public administration that has lead to governmental agencies effectively functioning while adapting to unethical problems and public sector changes. Public administration, developed in the early 1900s, is a special field of study within the academic discipline of political science. Since the exception, public administration has evolved throughseveral substantive stages. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the field has encountered a serious challenge (Hou, 2012). It emphasizes the structure and operation of bureaucracies and organizations, including budgeting, personnel, and formal and informal internal controls. Some public administration programs include study of the special management skills required in governmental organizations.

Responsibilities

What is ethics? The basic definition is a professional code of ethics concerning what is morally right or wrong. In public administration, this definition of ethics assumes that all public officials understand their ethical and moral responsibility to administer public policy that will be beneficial and impartial for our society as a whole. Practical ethics in public administration helps with handling unethical situations. The government agencies must improve and practice how to improve their ethical decision-making that affects the entire public sector. This practice should improve governmental agency skills, so they can better prepared to address difficult ethical issues in a justifiable manner. In addition, the public administration administrators must maintain standards of personal integrity while applying ethical principals in the public sector. Public administrators should promote good ethical behavior on any governmental level by supporting open communication, serving the public interest and  establishing standards for ethical behavior that  promote government accountability.  Ethical behavior in public administration means improving individual capabilities and encouraging professionals to follow a set of guidelines that improve the moral fiber of that branch of government. For that reason, not only ethics became an important area of concern, as its conception needed to adapt to the new formulations of governance and public service. Public sector ethics is normally regarded as a branch of political ethics (Bilhim & Neves, 2005). In the public sector, government ethics deals with the essential principle of a public administrator’s obligation as a “steward” to the public. Public administration ethics is a commitment to the public sector that every branch of the government will adhere and following these stringent standards of ethics to uphold the preservation of strong moral accountability. Most public administrators have given an oath and sworn allegiance to establish the public sector ethical and moral polices that would be advantageous for the wellness of modern culture. In the arena of public administration, the government is concerned with the lawfulness of the branch of the government that must ensure their actions are not only moral, lawful and ethical for the public sectors safety. Within the public-sector where leaders are held accountable to a wide variety of citizenry and stakeholders, public leaders are often expected to meticulously conform to standards higher than those aligned with personal morality (Mcdougle, 2004).  It is important to understand that all public administrators  work within some type of governmental structure that make decisions about our legal system which attempting to stay with the obligations to the public sector . The perception of the public consumer can also drive the public administration ethical decisions because the public has ethical and moral gauge that expects the government to abide by the ethical concepts that our society has come to believe. As public servants having the opinions and expectations of the government to ensure that public administrators will operate within a set of ethical procedures that will be open to the most critical public inspection. The public sector ethics is an attempt to set of standards that can be the catalyst for ethical decision within governmental agencies.  Having the highest ethical standards presumes more than compliance with the law, including administrative law: it requires a culture or an intuition in decision-making by public administrators based on fairness, goodness and accountability (Podger, 2005). Government agencies provide the public sector with the foundation of business and professional ethics. The members of the public administration all are aware of the demanding expectations from the public that required the government agency to perform these duties with fairness and equality.

Roles Public Administration

In the public administration sector, the expectations of the government adhering to the most stringent of moral ethical standardshas had been the backbone of our public sector since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote and implemented” The Social Security Act of 1935”, which is still one the greatest public administration policies that stills drives the expectations of moral and ethical responsibility to the people. At the level of the individual and individual action, irony has applications to specific problems of administrative ethics, such as the issue of ethical awareness (Plant, 2008). Roosevelt made it clear that the prominentrole that ethics play in public administration is dependent on every person in the public administration sector living up to the ethic and morale standards. The role of the public administration public sector is to practice values of excellent character while developing the structure of public administration to prevent corruption in the public sector. It is clear that the lack of morale and ethical standards at the public administration levels will systematicallycorrupt the very foundation of our social, political, and economic beliefs. There are many factors that promote ethics in public administration such as the pursuit of democracy, sound public policy, globalization and economic changes can influence public administrators on which ethical and moral polices to follow. The public-sector where leaders are called upon to uphold differing and even contradictory levels of ethical responsibility it has increasingly become expected that leaders meet many of the prototypical and idealized expectations of those in which they represent (Mcdougle, 2004).

Expectations

The public will always expect and  demands higher standards of ethics and moral accountability that is transparent in the public sector however, the goal is provide guidance to  business and government entities that govern our society. These ethical standards are developed in order to ensure the public sector has strong moral standards that effectively encourage ethical behavior in any government agency.Ethics in public administration shouldexist within every government or business infrastructure that serves the public. However, social integrity and ethics is not something that is often at the forefront of modern day public agencies and environments. The business community is looking towards public administration entities to take the lead in setting the example for stellar ethical behavior. Important for the study of ethics is the development of foundational guidelines—aninstitutional ethic for takings—for administrators charged with making eminent domain decisions (Olejarski, 2010).The public expects the public sector to avoid any non-ethical behaviors that exist in some government public sectors. For example, a government agency that promotes civil administrators without any performance reviews each year is an unethical acts the goes against the moral standards for the public sector.

The public administration sectormust be above such unethical actions because other forms of business are seeking leadership from public administrationgoverning bodies. In order for our society to become more conscious of ethical behaviors, public administration agencies must set the example for the business and public sectors. Unethical practices are what create a climate of contempt and distrust, leading to people harboring ill will and lack of trust of the public administration leaders. Public administration ethics are a necessary and critical ingredient in any government run agency. Public administration ethics are specially guided by the public administrators who create the ethical framework that governments much follow in order to gain public acceptance in the public sector.  Public sector ethics are implemented in order to ensure that a certain required level of confidence exists between the people and any government agency.The public sector expects the government to be the leader in political, ethical, and business decision at the government level to ensure that policies and procedures have been created for government and state agencies.

Public Administrators

Public administration are primarily concerned with the organization of government procedures and policies as well as the behavior of  non-elected public officers to be responsible for the conduct and ethical behaviors of the public sector. In our society today, unelected public officials are considered public administrators such as city managers, health department directors, mental health director, cabinet members, and state and federal directors.We can define public administrators, as are public officials that work for any public agency within any level of the government.The father of public administration was Thomas Woodrow Wilson, who was our 28^th President of the United States. President Wilson explained public administration as stewards of public sector activities of planning, organizing, controlling government operations, and ensuring that the ethical codes of the land are obeyed. In addition, public administration is present in any form of government including local, state, central, or intermediate levels of the public sector. President Wilson use the term public administrators as civil service, who are public administrators that formulate state policy, advise on government issues, and developing democratic and ethical platforms for the public sector. The “ethics infrastructure” includes measures to enhance and preserve organizational integrity, access to information that promotes transparency and accountability, and oversight by independent institutions and the public at large (UPAN, 2010). President Wilson believes that the government is the shepards of public administration ethics because it is the government’sresponsibility to set the best example of ethical behavior for the public sector. He called the public administration the branch of government that is responsible for taking action as the most visible side of government.

Purpose

Public Administration ethics are guidelines that should display strong moral principles that can be used continuously to support ethical behaviors within the confounds of any government public administration. Fair and pragmatic ethics in public administration should facilitates and set clear guidelines to address all challenging or troublesome moral conditions. It can help you strengthen government staff and public administrators resolve in handling ethical concerns with better confidence. Public administration ethics are based upon the core concept that federal government authorities as well as personnel are stewards of the public. Government workers andprofessionals are expected to follow the moral and ethical code set forth by the government agency. Appropriate ethical conduct demands that the public sector employees behave an ethical manner at all times to serve the goals of the public. Still the business of government continues, carried on by fiduciaries of the public trust – citizens “responsible to serve the public” as well as “members of the public they are supposed to serve (Willia, 1995). This consists of opposing all of the varieties discrimination , supporting the public’s right to really know what continues to be completed on their behalf , concerning individuals in policy decision-making and getting across to the public in a transparent fashion that a solid foundation has been set for ethical standards.

Challenges

One of the most significant complexities confronting federal government bureau managers entails creating and preserving principles for ethical conduct by personnel. In a period through which public skepticism and doubt concerning administration and public officers have reached all-time highs , public administration ethics function as guidelines that officials’ choices and decisions needs to be influenced by the standard of serving the public instead of themselves. At the government level ethical conduct on its surface seems like a simple enough to deliver to the public sector, however, each individual has their own idea of ethical conduct. Public administration has certain issues with regard to ethics implementation and finds it troublesome to come to terms with them. One reason for this is because ethics is embedded in an intellectual framework (Radhika, 2012). Public administration ethics provide the core ideas of right and wrong so that the public sector does not rely on individual ethical beliefs instead of the overall delivery of ethical standards to the public sector. It is hard to overcome the ethical standards that each individual has engraved into their own personality, however public administration ethics provide some guidelines for government agencies that are ethical standards for everyone not just one individual.  That is why ethical conduct much is delivered and enforced by the public administrators to ensure the integrity of that government agency remains intact.Administration is about organizing people to do complex jobs. Public administration is about organizing people to do complex jobs in pursuit of a broader, government-defined interest (Kettl, 2010).In our society today, public administrators are presented with many different problems in relation to ethical conduct. Accountability is to adhere to a standard of professionalism in the workplace. Additionally, it means to understand that our professional activities are being funded by the citizens of this country. As such, public employees are held responsible by citizens for upholding the mission of their organization (Radhika, 2012).  This is due to the media providing a spotlight on any government unethical act and scrutinizing the lack of unethical procedures by the public administrators.  The media helps send the message about every single ethical or unethical act with public administration causing public administrators to be more conscious of ethical decisions at the government level. However, when a public administrator makes a questionableethical decisions it amplifies the public perception that public administration ethics is going unchecked.  To practice transparency in public administration is to ensure citizens the availability of information which is deemed public. This should be an organizational goal, and is to be taken into account when conducting all public business regardless of one’s job title (Derosa, 2010).

References

Bilhim, J. &Neves, B. (2005).New ethical challenges in a changing Public Administration. Retrieved from http://soc.kuleuven.be/io/ethics/paper/Paper%20WS4_pdf

Derosa, M. (2010).The five core values of public administration. Retrieved from http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/the-five-core-values-of-public

Frederickson. (2001). Ethics and Public Administration.Columbia.MD.M.E.Sharpe Inc.

Gehrke, J. (2008).What do ethics and corporate social responsibility mean today? Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Do-Ethics-and-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Mean-Today?&id=934412

Hou, Y. (2012).Reinventing Public Administration for the twenty-first century. Washington: D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Kettl, D. (2010). Transformation of governance : Public Administration for twenty-first century America.Baltimore, MD. Johns Hopkins University Press

Mcdougle, L. (2004). Understanding and maintaining ethical values in the public sector through an integrated approach to leadership. Retrieved from www.ipa.udel.edu/3tad/papers/workshop6/McDougle.pdf

Olejarski, A. M. (2010). The Kelo opportunity. Public Integrity, 13(1), 41-58. doi:10.2753/PIN1099-9922130103

Plant, J. F. (2008). Irony and Public Administration ethics. Public Integrity, 10(3), 273-285.

Podger, A. (2005).Ethics and Public Administration. Retrieved from http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/200512_podger_ps_ethics.pdf

Radhika, D. (2012).Ethics in Public Administration.Journal of Public Administration and Policy  Research.Vol. 4(2) pp. 23-31.

UPAN. (2010). Ethics, Transparency and Accountability. Retrieved from http://www.unpan.org/dpepa-gpab-ethics.asp

Willia, B. (1995). Public Administration Review. Public Administration Review. Retrieved from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-16233801/ethics-and-public-administration.html