Ethics in public administration

Ethics in Public Administration
Here an attempt is made to outline some features of ethics in Public Administration.
* Maxim of legality And Rationality: An administrator will follow the Laws and Rules that are framed to govern and guide the various policies and decisions.
* Maxim of Responsibility And Accountability: An Administrator will not hesitate in accepting the ResponsMibility for this decisions and actions.He will hold himself morally responsible for his actions and for the use of his discretion while making decisions.
* Maxim of Work Commitment: An Administrator would be committed to his duties and would perform his duties with involvement, intelligence, and dexterity as Swami Vivekanand has said: " Every duty is holy and devotion to duty is the highest form of Worship". He should not consider Work as a burden but as an oppurunity to serve and constructively contribute to society.
* Maxim of Excellence: An Administrator would ensure the Highest standards of quality in administrative decisions and would not compromise with the standards because of convenience or complacency.
* Maxim of Responsibility and Resilience: An Administrator would respond effectively to the demands and challenges from the external as well as internal environment.
* Maxim of Utilitarianism: An Administrator while making and implementing policies and decisions will ensure that these lead to the greatest good (happiness, benefits) of the greatest number.
* Maxim of Compassion: An Administrator without violating the laws and rules, would demonstrate compassion for the poor , the disabled and the weak while using his discretion in making decisions.
* Maxim of National interest: An Administrator would keep in view the impact of his actions on his Nation's strength and prestige.
* Maxim of justice: An Administrator while formulating and executing his policies and decisions would ensure that respect is shown to the principles of Equality, equity,fairness,impartiality and objectivity.
* Maxim of Transparency: An Administrator will make decisions and implement them in a transparent manner so that those affected by the decisions will be able to understand the reason behind such decisions.
* Maxim of Integrity: An Administrator would undertake an administrative action on the basis of honesty and will not use his power, position and discretion to serve his personal interest and the interests of other individuals or groups.
Ethics in the public sector is a broad topic. In general, ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address morality. In the public sector, ethics addresses the fundamental premise of a public administrators duty as a "steward" to the public. In other words, it is the moral justification and consideration for decisions and actions made during the completion of daily duties when working to provide the general services of government and nonprofit organizations. Ethics are an accountability standard by which the public will scrutinize the work being conducted by the members of these organizations.
Decisions are based upon ethical principles, which are the perception of what the general public would view as correct. Having such a distinction ensures that public administrators are not acting on an internal set of ethical principles without first questioning whether those principles would hold to public scrutiny. It also has placed an additional burden upon public administrators regarding the conduct of their personal lives. Public sector ethics is an attempt to create a more open atmosphere within governmental operations
Notable scholars
Notable scholars of public administration have come from a range of fields. In the period before public administration existed as its own independent discipline, scholars contributing to the field came from economics, sociology, management, political science, law, and, other related fields. More recently, scholars from public administration and public policy have contributed important studies and theories.

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