Ethics in Public Administration: Significance, Issues, and Solutions

Abstract
This paper will look at issues relating to issues of ethical in
civil services or public administration. This paper will also be
essential in that it will help the decision makers in finding
ways of getting out of the crisis that is associated with
ethics. The success of any reform of the Civil services
mostly relied on the public functionaries as well as their
readiness to make important changes in their operation.
There is also a discussion of the significance of ethics in
public sectors. It also provides possible solutions that may
help solve the issues of ethics in the public sectors. There
are also suitable strategies and recommendation that will
help administrators develop ethical standards.

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of
solving the problems of ethics in public sectors. Accountability
in any public administration is a crucial facet to civil service in
all the country. Ethics is well-based principles of wrong and
right and prescribes what individuals should do. Ethics ensure
that institution and individuals perform according to the
standards or morals that are needed of them (Catlaw & Jordan,
2009). There are two types of ethics that include descriptive
and normative ethics. Normative ethics deals with the standard
for the wrongness and rightness of actions, whereas descriptive
ethics help in investigating moral concerns of the people.
Researchers defined public administration as maintaining as
well as organizing fiscal and human resources with the aim of
achieving the goals of the organization (Radhika, 2012).

Background
In 1999, some researchers studied the general state of public
service ethics in the United State. Their review demanded the
generation of ideas as well as study approaches among different
fields for example education, psychology, engineering, and business.
The review of the researchers also suggested that research on public
administration ethics should be based on methodological rigor and it
should contain contextually case studies (Grant & Booth, 2009). In
2005, most researchers conducted another assessment and review
that recognized the development of ethics research particularly in
public administration; they even argued that in the same year, more
scholars participated in the ethics research as compared to any
other era (Rajwani & Liedong, 2015) The review also suggested that
substantial improvement toward creating a significant body of
knowledge about integrity and ethics in governance had taken place.

Importance of ethics in public administration
Ethics offer accountability between the public as well as administration.
Observing a code of ethics enables the general public to obtain what it
wants in a free and fair manner (Frederickson & Rohr, 2015). It also
provides the administration with proper guidelines in integrity for their
daily operations. Also, integrity helps in fostering the trust of the entire
community. A code of ethics establishes standards of professionalism that
workers in organizations may encounter in their workplace.. Strong codes
of ethics enable leaders to develop guidelines that will help them perform
their duties and inspire their workers. Ethics also enable leaders to enforce
laws in a quotable and professional manner. Another significance of ethics
particularly in public sectors is informative as well as timely
communication with the public (Cothern, 2019). This type of transparency
creates trust as well as minimizes or prevents the potential problems that
may arise when information is disclosed from outside sources. Ethics will
also ensure that information come directly from the administration and
leaders. Communication also retains all groups involved to ensure that
they all work together for a specific goal.