Ethics in the Public Sector

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Ethics in the Public Sector

        There is an underlying difference between right and wrong and good and bad. The discussion on the topic of ethics often revolves around these two concepts. Something right is an act that is socially acceptable in the society while a wrong is an act that is not according to the values and beliefs of the society (Bowman &Jonathan, 2). They revolve around the moral standards. On the other hand, the society has bad and good things. These are the issues that are not right based on individual judgment. Both bad and good are relative because something can be good to one and the same thing is bad to another. Therefore, the concept of bad and good relates to actions of an individual in relation to how another person views them. The concept is dependent on the things that are tangible while the concept of right and wrong is dependent on the issue that are abstract in nature. These are societal norms put in place, that when one acts in a certain manner that is displeasing to the normalcy of the society, they regard it as wrong and vice versa. However, the two binary concepts have something in common. The first case involving bad and wrong are things that are not acceptable, and they affect the people around negatively. On the other hand, the concept of right and good have a positive Implication to the people’s interaction. They are also acceptable according to the standards of the society.

        Codes of ethics are the regulations put in place to act as a guideline which the professionals follow. They are the rules in regards to a particular profession. The public sector involves the government corporations that are established by any government to provide services to the citizens. Such state departments have a constitutional mandate to work in the interest of the citizens (Bowman &Jonathan, 10). The concepts of good and bad and right and wrong relate to the ethical issues. Ethical issues can be at individual level, and also on the general perspective. The concept on right and wrong revolves around the general perspective while the bad and good revolves around the way a public officer should conduct themselves in an individual capacity.

The public sector, although involving the political appointments, engages the diversity of the whole group. The society involves a diverse group of professionals that work in state corporations. The government, therefore, should consider this diversity when making the appointments. This way it can improve on service delivery when they bring on board diversity in terms of knowledge and skills of these individuals. They will avoid issues that involve the favoritism based on ethnic diversity. Diversity also ensures that the states involve all the professionals in their development agenda. These ethical issues are in the Constitution and anyone who goes against them is liable to prosecution (Bowman &Jonathan, 45).

The first ethical issue in the public sector requires every official to be non partisan. Appointments in any public office involves government representatives to the public. These appointments have political influence. However, the law hinders an officer from being partisan

(Bowman &Jonathan, 50). They should have no political inclination when it comes to service delivery. They should be neutral when they execute their duties. Public service involves working for the citizens, regardless of their political stands. Doing contrary to this leads to lack of delivery of service because the government serves the interest of all the people. As binary categorization defines the concept of right and wrong, the first ethical issue relates to it by stating that it is not acceptable to take sides while serving in the public sector. Taking sides interferes with the individual’s judgment.

Another code of ethics involves individual competence (Bowman & Jonathan, 60). Officers appointed to state departments should be individuals who have the relevant skills to work in the department. They should have academic qualification and experience that enables them to deliver in their respective departments. The skills are necessary to influence decision making on issues concerning any corporation. Lack of these skills may render them unworthy to provide service to the citizens. It is not right to appoint an individual who lacks the competence to serve in a public corporation. This move compromises the quality of services provided by the appointee. The above ethical issue relates to the binary concept of good and bad and right and wrong, in that it relates to an individual’s ability to make decision.

Another code of ethic involves the moral standards of an individual. Any appointed person should be of high moral standards (Bowman & Jonathan, 64). The government must ensure that they consider the characters of the individuals before hiring them. A person holding such post should be an individual of high moral standards. The individuals in such leadership positions should ensure that they act as role models to the juniors. They should also have the virtues of honesty and the will to serve. Such characters are important as they help the individual to fight virtues such as corruption that hinder development. Such an individual must also have respect for the law. They should have clean record devoid of any illegal activities. They should not be in conflict with the laws of the country. The concept of good and bad and wrong and right relates to the moral standards by involving the actions of the individual during service. Good morals standards make the officer to do the acceptable things.

In conclusion, these ethical issues address the concepts of wrong and right and bad and good. This, in essence explain the similarities there in these two concept. The paper also addresses the issue of diversity in civil service. Diversity is important in the development of a country because it involves bringing people with diverse skills that can improve the corporations. The two concepts, therefore are related in expressing the codes of ethics.

The second part of this paper talks about the arguments in public service ethics and social psychology. As said earlier, codes of ethics in the public sector are put in place to control the behavior and attitudes of the employees in government corporations.  Acts that contravene the code of ethics are against the laws. The second part will discuss the similarities and differences from these points of view in relation to ethnic diversity. The first similarity is in line with service to the society. While the ethical issues are touching on service to the local people, it aims to provide services to the society with regards to the operations of the many departments. Social psychology discusses the same. The aim of a balanced society is to create equity that makes the locals benefit from the service provided by the state. The two perspectives take in to account the importance of the service to the society, making the society the centre of interest.

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