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What is Ethics? Ethics refers to principles by which to evaluate behavior as right or wrong, good or bad. Ethics are continuous efforts of striving to ensure that people, and the institutions they shape, live up to the standards that are reasonable and solidly based.

Public sector ethics The public sector or the state is the government with all its ministries, departments, services, central, provincial, local administrations, and other institutions. Ethics in the public sector is a broad topic that is usually considered a branch of political ethics.

In the public sector, ethics addresses the fundamental principle of a public administrator's 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. There are also some differences between public sector ethics and private sector (business) ethics. The aim of the private corporation or business is, in general, to make money, whereas the public sector is meant to perform functions for the society as a whole, according to general and political priorities.

Composition of public Sector The public sector is composed of two core elements. At the political level there are the political institutions where policies are formulated and the (major) decisions are made. At the administrative level there is the public sector administration, which is in charge of implementing these policies and decisions. This implementing level is also called the civil service or state administration or bureaucracy. The distinction between politics and administration is not entirely clear.

Both politicians and civil servants have discretionary powers; they make decisions that affects a lot of people. Therefore, these decisions ought to be based on some form of ethics. For instance, the public (a nation’s citizens) will normally expect the country’s politicians and public servants to serve in the public interest, and to serve in a rational and efficient way. They will not want them to pursue narrow private, personal, or group interests.

Ethics of Public Sector The ethics of public service is based on five basic qualities,( Niamh Nikchin) Political Accountability Fairness Transparency Responsibility Efficiency Conflict of interest

Political Accountability Political accountability is the accountability of the government, civil servants and politicians to the public and to legislative bodies such as the national assembly, parliament, national audit office, and other agencies of control and oversight.

Horizontal and Vertical Accountability Political Accountability is usually divided into two. Horizontal accountability The institutions of “horizontal” accountability are the Legislature (parliament/national assembly) and the Judiciary (the Supreme or Constitutional Court), primarily, but also the various state institutions of oversight and control like special state agencies, auditors and commissions. The institutions of “vertical accountability” are the institutions of popular participation, influence, voice and control, of which the political parties and elections are the first and foremost, followed by civil society organizations and the media.

Transparency is openness of information. The concept of transparency can be defined as a principle that allows those affected by political and administrative decisions to know not only the basic facts and figures but also the principles, mechanisms and processes leading up to a decision. It is furthermore the duty of politicians, civil servants and managers to act visibly, predictably and understandably. Transparency is the principle of public access to information, accessible to all relevant stakeholders, in a timely and reliable way.

As a principle of government and administration, transparency can also be seen as an ethical duty. Effective use of public revenues is strongly linked to accountability, which in turn requires transparency of information. A country’s citizens need to know about government revenues and expenditures, because this information can help them to exert pressure on their governments for better spending on key basic services such as health and education, for example. Thus, transparency is closely connected to accountability, as transparency is a prerequisite for accountable government .

Fairness is another duty or ethical obligation of the public sector. Fairness is justice, both in terms of equality for the law and in terms of distributive justice. Impartiality is a core concept of fairness; impartiality is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or favoritism.

Responsibility This is the responsibility of the public sector employee to honor ethical rules and standards, prevent corruption and place importance on ethics and integrity with the related instruments, processes and institutions.

Efficiency Civil servants and public officials are required to obtain best value for public assets deployed in or through public management, and to avoid waste and nonessential in expenditure and the use of public assets.

Conflict of Interest A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust and responsibility, such as a politician, civil servant, executive or director of a corporation or a medical research scientist, lawyer or physician, has competing professional and personal interests. In other words, a conflict of interest arises when a public sector employee or official is influenced by personal considerations when carrying out his or her job. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially.

Common forms of conflict of inertest Self-dealing, in which public and private interests collide, for example when a public official holds private business interests. Outside employment, in which the interests of the “private” job can contradict the job as a public servant. The revolving door politics, in which government workers or elected officials work for the companies they should regulate. Family interests, for instance when a spouse, child, or other close relative is employed or where goods or services are purchased from such a relative or a firm controlled by a relative.

Public Sector Ethics vs. Government Ethics Public sector ethics deals with ethics for those who serve in the public sector- primarily governmental and elected officials focusing on the public, whom they serve Government ethics is only focused on moral issues relating to governments, including bribery and corruption.

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