ETHICS AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT

INTRODUCTION

Public administration as an activity which encompasses each and every aspect of human life. The explosion and spread of information and communication technology, the wide acceptance of democratic form of government and changing social norms enable the people to demand higher standards of ethics, transparency and accountability in the public sector. Ethical public service is considered as a prerequisite of well functioning democracy. Ethical, transparent and accountable public sector is also a precondition of good governance that ensures sustainable development and responsive public policy. It also helps to improve the performance of public sector by preventing systemic corruption.

The effectiveness of public administration depends on the understanding and cooperation between the citizens and public servants. The primary concern of the citizens in a good civil society is that their government must be fair and good. For a Government to be good it is essential that their systems and sub-systems of Governance are efficient, economical, ethical and equitable. In addition the governing process must also be just, reasonable, fair and citizen friendly. For these and other qualities and good governance, the administrative system must also be accountable and responsive, besides promoting transparency and people's participation.

There is a great deal of alienation between the people and the public service which undermines the legitimacy, effectiveness and credibility of public administration. To bridge this gap it is necessary to create confidence in the minds of the people towards the competence, fairness, honesty, impartiality and sincerity of the public services.

The manipulation and lack of ethics in administration not only reduces the effectiveness but also has several negative effects for the society as a whole. It leads to poor administration and mismanagement of human and material resources. Several rules, regulations and laws exist to ensure impartiality, honesty and devotion among the public servants. But still there remain a vast area of administrative activity which cannot be controlled by formal laws, procedures and methods. 'In such cases administrators are accountable only to their own conscience, their own sense of duty towards the social welfare. Along with that there is also a need to have an "ethics infrastructure" that not only provides guidance for good conduct but also administratively and legally punishes misconduct. The "ethics infrastructure" includes measures to enhance and preserve organizational integrity, access to information that promotes transparency and accountability and prevents misuse of power by public personnel. Decision-making by administrators must be based on fairness, transparency and accountability and a sense of the public interest, as well as the careful exercise of the legal authorities delegated by Parliament.