The debate about the role of governance in administration is ongoing; however more and more administrators are finding that they must reconcile the best method for improving a government or agency while addressing the needs and grievances of the public. In administration, democratic governance is the managing of resources and the implementation of policy that maintains and protects the public good by finding innovative ways to address real and perceived declines of democracy in public life. Administrators who support this form of governance work to improve governing practices; a large component of this work involves protecting the public good by operating in a manner that is transparent, ethical, efficient, and accountable. In the United States, Public Administrators are expected to abide by the American Society of Public Administrators Code of Ethics that affirms their responsibility to protect the public good. The ASPA code of ethics offers a framework for an infrastructure that supports democratic governance with provisions that require administrators to serve the public interest, adhere to principles that respect the constitution and law, demonstrate personal integrity when making ethical decisions, promote ethical organizations and strive for professional excellence.
The first section of the American Society for Public Administrators (ASPA 1984) requires administrators to serve the public interest (sec. I). According to the author Terry L. Cooper in the book The Responsible Administrator, when faced with ethical dilemmas administrators must maintain their obligation to a central principle, the public interest (Cooper, 2006, 25). Cooper acknowledges that the idea of serving the public interest is problematic, in part because the concept is very abstract; and administrators have shown little interest in furthering the theory. Cooper (2006) acknowledges that a symptom of the abstractedness of the concept is that it runs the risk of becoming an arbitrary term and minimizing it to the point that it has no function. Cooper suggests instead that administrators use the concept as a measuring stick for increasing public value (p.91).
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The second section of the ASPA Code of Ethics (1984) requires administrators to adhere to principles that respect the constitution and law (Sec. II). Cooper supports the second section of the ASPA Code of Ethics by examining an administrator’s responsibility to elected officials through support for the law. Cooper (2006) argues that compliance with the law is a matter of objective responsibility. Cooper suggests that this kind of accountability is objective because it is not the direct result of decision making on the part of the administrator. Instead, it is the result of decisions made by others that tell an administrator what they have to do. Cooper (2006) acknowledges that this kind of accountability includes responsibility to the law governing an administrator’s organization but it also includes a legal obligation to uphold the Constitution.
The third principle of the ASPA Code of Ethics (1984) requires administrators to demonstrate personal integrity (sec. III). The Cooper text acknowledges the importance of maintaining integrity when making ethical considerations. The text describes this concept as subjective responsibility. Cooper (2006) argues that integrity is not a single character trait. Instead Cooper argues that integrity involves a complex process of ethical decision making that includes analytical, moral, creative, and intuitive components.
The fourth and fifth principle of the ASPA Code of Ethics (1984), to promote ethical organizations and strive for professional excellence (sec. IV-V). The author M. Shamsul Haque argues that these principles may be threatened by what he says is the diminishing publicness of public service; he says that this current mode of governance has created inherent obstacles in administration. Hague argues that excessive power, lack of accountability and representation, and indifference toward the public’s needs and demands are all symptoms of the lack of publicness in public service. Hague suggests that public service has undergone a businesslike transformation towards the principles of the market and management. He measured the publicness of public service by distinguishing features that include transparency, equality, representation, and large social impact.
The public administration field is designed to strengthen the capabilities of administrators and their professional development by introducing the concepts of responsibility and accountability, setting personal and professional boundaries, operating with integrity, honesty and morality to aid them in making ethical decisions that are sound. The ASPA code of ethics offers a framework that aids administrators in developing and implementing a system that supports democratic governance by taking into account the needs of the citizenry and serving them ethically and efficiently. Further, courses in public administration give administrators professional development tools that aids them in incorporating theory, history, moral and codified ethical considerations into the individual schema for decision-making.
- “American Society for Public Administration Code of Ethics.” American Society for Public Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. http://www.main.org/
- Cooper, Terry L. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. 5th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, A John Wiley & Sons Imprint, 2006. Print.
- Hague, M. S. “The Diminishing Publicness of Public Service Under the Current Mode of Governance.” The Public Administration Review 61.1 (2001): 65-66. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.
- Radhika, D. Ethics in Public Administration. Diss. Anna Adarsh College for Women, 2012. N.p.: n.p., 2012. Print.
