The functions of government servants involve exercise of authority and the provision of services. In discharging these functions, government servants should be considerate, friendly, polite, correct and accommodating to the public. They should not divulge purely private matters; and should protect the privacy of citizens. They should be sensitive to the needs, values, norms and expectations of people. They should not behave in any way which infringes on human dignity. They should perform their duties ethically.
Employees’ duty of loyalty implies that employees must act in the public interest. They should not criticize government in public.
This duty casts the following responsibilities on government servants.
(i) They should comply with the legal rules and ethical guidelines that apply to their work.
(ii) They have to follow orders issued by superiors.
(iii) They need not follow orders to do anything illegal or unethical.
(iv) They can analyse matters thoroughly before government takes a decision.
(v) Once a decision is taken, it has to be implemented swiftly and efficiently within the established parameters, regardless of the public official’s own views.
(i) They have to use public resources economically.
(ii) They should prevent misuse and waste of public money and of office space, equipment and materials.
(iii) While achieving programme objectives, they have to maintain balance between efficiency, quality and good administrative practice. Efficiency should not be placed above important administrative principles.
(iv) Government officials have to create inclusive working conditions.
(v) Government officers should create healthy working atmosphere which prevents work related stress and burnout.
(i) Government officers need to promote transparency towards (a) citizenry; (b) within their own ranks; and between (c) different administrative branches.
(ii) They should diligently follow the RTI Act.
(i) Public officials shall not behave in a manner that could impair faith in their impartiality.
(ii) A public official shall not decide any case in which he or his family members are either directly or indirectly interested. Public officials should not act in matters where their perceived interest canimpairpublictrust inthem.
(iii) There are other situations which lead to conflicts of interest or allegations of conflicts. These can affect their exercise of independence of judgement. Such situations need to be avoided.
Summary
¤ Ideas on what should be the desirablepersonal qualities in civil servants changed overtime.
¤ These changes can be connected with five theoretical perspectives: revitalization of virtue ethics and its application to public administration; traditional view on bureaucracy associated with Max Weber; ideas of new public administration; public choice theory; and communitarianism.
¤ Qualities of any individual are embodied in his personality and character.
¤ Personality [is] a characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Personality embraces moods, attitudes, and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions with other people. It includes behavioral characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that distinguish one person from another and that can be observed in people’s relations to the environment and to the group.” The features associated with personality are: Consistency; Psychological and physiological aspects; influence on behaviour and action; and multiple expressions.
¤ ‘‘Big 5” personality traits are extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism.
¤ The features associated with personality are: Consistency; Psychological and physiological aspects;influence on behaviour and action; and multipleexpressions.
¤ Extraversion is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and
expression of emotion.
¤ Agreeableness includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection and other pro- social behaviours.
¤ Those high on conscientiousness tend to be organized and attentive to details.
¤ Neuroticism is a trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability.
¤ Openness includes characteristics such as imagination and insight.
¤ Character depends on the moral abilities of individuals such as the ability to keep a promise, tell the truth, or stand resolute in the face of threat. Character also depends on how individual look upon themselves and tailor their actions to fit their expectations.
¤ Personal qualities of civil servants comprise personality, intellect and character.
¤ Renewed interest in public service ethics since 1970s arose from changes in theory and the scandals which rocked governments and corporates.
¤ However, in the American progressive movement of public administration, emphasis shifted to efficiency and merit based recruitment.
¤ Traditional moral thinkers consider prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance as the four cardinal virtues. All virtues can be reduced to these four.
¤ Civil servants have to correct their moral frailties.
¤ Virtues can be classified as: family virtues, aesthetic virtues, intellectual virtues, religious virtues, administrative virtues, organizational virtues and professional virtues.
¤ Stephen Bailey says that government servants should recognise moral ambiguity which prevails in public sphere and the need for moral priorities and suitable administrative procedures. Public servants need qualities of optimism, courage and fairness tempered with charity.
¤ According to Kathryn Denhardt, honour, benevolence and justice are the foundations of morals in public administration.
¤ Terry L. Cooper mentions three obligations of public servants: to pursue public good; to follow appropriate processes and procedures; and to show proper feelings to colleagues.
¤ David K Hart propounded the ideas of ‘benevolent bureaucrat’ and of ‘moral exemplar’. He distinguishes public administration from business enterprise. Public servants, as compared to business managers, strive for a higher purpose.
¤ The list of moral qualities which Hart mentions include: superior prudence, moral heroism, love of humanity, trust in common people, and a continuing effort towards moral improvement.
¤ Goodness of character involves moving one’s mental focus away from self interest, self absorption and the pull towards one’s own thought.
¤ As public service is about pursuing common good, public servants need good character.
¤ Views on the values desirable in public servants have changed over time due to changes in public administration theory. Some of these values conflict with one another.
¤ In practical administrative situations, government servants have to follow the existing codes of conduct and of virtues which apply to their jobs.
¤ In the traditional Weberian model, government servants are politically neutral functionaries, who provide no political inputs into policy making. Ethical conduct consists in obeying rules or orders of superiors. Contra wise, unethical conduct consists in acts of omission and commission which flout rules.
¤ This model lost validity because of increasing discretionary power which government servants exercise in modern times and of the blurring of line between policy making and its implementation.
¤ Diverse new schools of public administration emphasise different values. New public administration prescribes that public servants should actively pursue policies of economic and social equity.
¤ John Rohr prescribes that public servants should base their decisions on constitutional
principles.
¤ Public choice theory advocates that governments should follow private sector models which focus on customers. Government agencies need to be ‘customer-driven and service-oriented’. They have to be ‘responsive, user-friendly, dynamic, and competitive providers of valuable services to customers’. They recommend that public servants should cultivate entrepreneurial spirit andcreativity to optimizeproductivityand results.
¤ Communitarianism opposes individual choice theory and free market economics. It emphasises on healthy community, and not maximisation of individual choices, as the desirable public goal. It proposes values based on community participation in government.
¤ In general, the qualities desirablein individual government servants are: ethical and sensitive conduct, loyalty, obedience, efficiency, transparency and impartiality.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. What are the three types of personal qualities desirable in civil servants? Why have civil service ethics become prominent in public administration theory?
2. Why did early thinkers on public administration pay inadequate attention to ethics in public service?
3. What do you understand by cardinal virtues? Are they of any relevance to modern day civil servants?
4. Outline briefly the views of any two modern public administration thinkers on the ethical ideals for civil servants.
5. “Ethics derived from religious texts are of no use to civil servants in a secular state.” Comment.
6. Discuss how a good character is necessary for holding higher positions in civil service.
7. Examine the question of ethics for public servants in the hierarchical model of administration.
8. Considerthe morality forpublicservants as envisaged inthe New PublicAdministrationSchool. How desirable or feasible is that morality in the Indian administrative context?
9. John Rohr argues that public servants should adopt constitutional values as their sole ethical guide. Examine the implications of this prescription in the Indian context.
10. What types of moral prescriptions for public servants follow from the public choice theory? Is there any relation between public choice theory and citizen’s charters?
11. What is the impact of Communitarianism on public ethics?
12. What are the commonly recognised ethical responsibilities of government servants?
REFERENCES
Terry L Cooper, Handbook of Administrative Ethics.
