The Importance Of Ethics Of Public Administration

Introduction

Codes of ethics exist to provide standards of excellence for civil servants to practice (Advanced Solutions International, Inc.). The standard of professionalism is one to be expected from those in administrative positions and to be reciprocated back from community members. The action of task completion is fueled by inspiration and honest. Conversely, scandals, release of confidential information, or inappropriate use of funds can violate the trust of the public. For this writing assignment I will be explaining the importance of ethics and some concerns regarding the process of conducting ethical behavior.

Importance of Ethics

There is a recognition that high-profile cases of mismanagement and corrosion can evoke impressions that question the constitutionality and caliber of administrative action. Current societal and economical operations are shaped by needs, wants, and the interaction between allocated services and their respective governments to fulfill said wishes. The demand for public administration arises from a lack of trust and education (Hijal-Moghrabi, I., & Sabharwal, M., p. 465, 2018). The individuals in administrative positions are thought leaders and impart their wisdom to operating contexts, and are expected to produce quality and integrity work (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). The full confidence in knowing that a policy member will not oppose responsibility is never entirely available, but there are measures that can be taken to best prevent mal behavior (Pohoata, G., p. 79, 2016). Failure to meet public expectations in an unethical way may then cause citizens to search elsewhere for a solution and result in broken trust. Ergo augmenting the ethical behavior of organization administration is indispensable to the validity of governance.

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The article, The Ethics of Ethics in the PA Times, briefly touches on a poor example of public administration during the water contamination in Flint, Michigan (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). Decisions to use contaminated water were made based on cost-efficiency and financial benefit instead of prioritizing safety (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). Here, the government officials did not make the public their priority, neither did they make safety a priority. In order to reap the benefits of good decision making, administration should have communicated effectively during meetings to both transmit and receive messages. One way communication is not as effective as two way communication, and outside contributions would have given a new perspective on the situation. Public governance today has a character of being compliance-oriented but should not refer to deserting the commitment to public law including credibility and fairness. The indisputable portion of public administration is determined based on conscious and practical decision making parallel to ethical adherence (Michael, B., Carr, I., & Bowser, D., p. 170, 2015). Ethical administration is crucial to both business and government, but they are not interchangeable. The Flint crisis snowballed because a decision was made to treat the government like a for-profit business, because in this case the ideal outcome was financial. This could have been prevented had effective meetings and communication been practiced — the sending and receiving of messages from all stakeholders.

Criticisms and Concerns Regarding Ethics

Various methods of principle statements, required required classes to reinforce ethical principles, mission statements, and code of conducts exist to encourage ethical governance, but are not legally binding. Those who have a role in the performance of administration grapple with the question of, will the effort of enforcing ethics modules pay off and if so, what difference will it make? The success of like organizations conducting unethical or corrupt management exalts the transgressions. However, given the fact that any management is compromised when any administrator breaks trust, the trouble to maintain positive community relations appears insignificant. No encumberment remains that can connect to these principles to charge penalties (Michael, B., Carr, I., & Bowser, D., 2015). Efforts to enforce ethical administration remain inconsequential lest common sense is applied to the situation. Assuming the stakes, implementing ethics may not even relieve or prevent administrative misconduct from happening, yet the glimmer of hope for slow change is assuring.

Conclusion

Recognizing and identifying the ethical principles that should direct the performance of conduct and behavior of civil servants in their external and internal relations is essential for several reasons: 1) internal management success, 2) mutual understanding, and 3) elimination of legal worry. Engaging in ethical administration enables management to be thoroughly cognizant of the rules that they should adhere to as do all other organizations that are seeking to make change and produce results. Secondly, community relations remain a positive relationship with community patrons. Concepts of vision-building and enhancement can be achieved through answers from the audience it is being done for, therefore citizens know what to anticipate. In pursuit of affirmative change and lasting impact promoting an organized and executive culture of service to stakeholders adopting and exercising ethical principles contributes to quality democracy amongst bureaucratic and informal settings.