Public Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration

What the official syllabus says

Main Written Examination, Paper VI: General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude). The following broad areas will be covered:

• Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.

Topics in detail

Public and civil service values

• Values: integrity, impartiality, accountability, transparency, responsiveness, efficiency, courtesy, dedication to the Constitution
• Constitutional basis: Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles, Fundamental Duties
• Ethics in governance as treated by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (fourth report, 2007)

Ethics in public administration: status and problems

• Meaning of administrative ethics; ethics of compliance and ethics of integrity
• Problems: corruption, nepotism, politicisation, red tape, abuse of discretion, lack of accountability
• Causes: weak enforcement, low pay in some cadres, delays in justice, political interference, social tolerance of corruption
• Erosion of values and the gap between rules and practice

Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions

• Ethical dilemma: a choice between two or more values each with a moral claim
• Common dilemmas: personal values versus official duty, loyalty to superiors versus public interest, rules versus compassion, transparency versus confidentiality, efficiency versus equity
• Conflict of interest: actual, apparent and potential
• Private institutions: profit versus social responsibility, treatment of employees and consumers, environmental harm, data privacy
• Resolving dilemmas: frameworks, consulting codes, seeking advice, recording reasons

Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance

• Laws: the Constitution, Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Right to Information Act 2005, Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013, Whistle Blowers Protection Act 2014
• Rules and regulations: conduct rules (All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968, Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964 and the state’s own conduct rules), service manuals, codes
• Limits of law: laws are minimum standards; gaps, delays and loopholes
• Conscience: the inner voice; crisis of conscience; conscientious objection
• When law and conscience conflict: civil disobedience and its limits for a public servant

Accountability and ethical governance

• Types of accountability: political, administrative (hierarchical), legal, financial, social
• Institutions: Parliament and the state Legislature, courts, Comptroller and Auditor General, Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal and Lokayuktas, information commissions
• Social audit and citizen participation
• Answerability and enforceability; accountability for outcomes, not only procedures

Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance

• Codes of ethics and conduct; ethics training and induction
• Transparency and e-governance to reduce discretion
• Merit-based recruitment, promotion and fixed tenure
• Protection of whistle-blowers; swift action against wrongdoing
• Leadership by example; organisational culture

Ethical issues in international relations and funding

• Realism and idealism in foreign policy; national interest and global responsibility
• Use of force, humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect
• Human rights, refugees and migrants
• Climate justice: common but differentiated responsibilities
• Ethics of sanctions, the arms trade and nuclear weapons
• Foreign aid and loans: conditionality, tied aid, debt
• Foreign funding of non-governmental organisations: the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010
• India’s ethical traditions in foreign policy: Panchsheel (1954), non-alignment, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

Corporate governance

• Meaning: the system by which companies are directed and controlled, balancing the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders
• Principles: transparency, accountability, fairness, responsibility
• Companies Act 2013: independent directors, audit committee, corporate social responsibility (section 135)
• SEBI regulation of listed companies (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements)
• Corporate frauds and failures as lessons; role of auditors and whistle-blowers
• Business ethics: insider trading, cartels, misleading advertising, environment, labour standards
• Governance of public sector undertakings

Overlaps

General Studies II covers governance, transparency, accountability and the role of civil services; General Studies III covers money-laundering. See also Probity in Governance.