Verified Document

Future Of The Concepts Of Public Interest And Administrative Responsibility Research Paper

Public administration is one of the constructs upon which every government functions. It incorporates the concepts of administrative responsibility and public interest upon which the idea of ethical obligation and the dilemma brought about by the privatization of government functions ride. Anytime the electorate cast their votes and express their preference for one candidate over another, they do so in the expectation that the candidate will work towards satisfying the public's interests, rather than their own, and that they will use their positions to help people, rather than dominate them. This expectation is, however, not often given the significance it deserves, despite the fact that it advances from the party that stands to either benefit or lose directly from a public administrator's actions. The Concept of Public Interest

Although it is difficult to give an explicit definition of the constituents of public interest, experts have repeatedly referred to it as public goodwill. Public administration requires that public interest take center stage in the designing of public policies (Starling, 2007). This is, however, not usually the case. Public administrators often place self-interests above public interests, and merely formulate policies that would allow them to maneuver and somewhat maximize their personal gains. This explains why most desired changes are either usually left pending for unnecessarily long periods of time, inadequately-realized or are never realized at all (Stillman, 2009).

The public votes to choose the leader they feel has their interests at heart, and would work towards improving their lives (Starling, 2007). They base their vote on the leader's campaign manifesto and morality record. However, even those with the fairest of records and the most fulfilling of manifestos often end up disappointing...

In order to mitigate against such, countries routinely develop codes of ethics aimed at governing the actions of public administrators within their jurisdictions. In the U.S., public administrators are guided the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Code of Ethics, whose first principle is "serve the public beyond serving oneself - ASPA members are committed to exercise discretionary authority to promote the public interest" (Starling, 2007, p. 183).
Administrative Responsibility

The concept of administrative responsibility goes beyond just what the public expects an administrator to do. It takes the concept of public interest a notch higher, and allows the public to judge an administrator as either responsible or irresponsible by comparing his actual behavior to that which the public expects him to portray (Stillman, 2009).

It is this idea of administrative responsibility that gives rise to the question of ethical responsibility (Starling, 2007). The public, in assessing the responsibility or irresponsibility of an administrator, bases its judgment on the expected values of responsiveness, competence, accountability, honesty, flexibility and fairness (Starling, 2007). A public officer is considered ethically responsible if their observed behavior is reasonably close to these, and irresponsible, if it deviates from the same, in certain ways (CAPAM Report, 2010).

Former Illinois Senator Paul Douglas is known for his tough stand on the concepts of ethical and administrative responsibility. He asserted that pubic officials ought to display utmost decency in their actions because the public would not be satisfied with 'just moderate decency', and would react to even the smallest scale of misbehavior (CAPAM Report, 2010). A number of aspects on one's personal life,…

Sources used in this document:
References

CAPAM Featured Report. (2010). Ethical Dilemmas in the Public Service. CAPAM. Retrieved from http://win2vin.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/ethical-dilemma-good-one.pdf

Holland, D., Nonini, D.M., Lutz, C., Bartlett, L. & Frederick-McGlathery, M., Guldbrandsen, T. & Murillo, E. (2007). Local Democracy under Siege: Activism, Public Interests, and Private Politics. New York: New York Press.

Starling, G. (2007). Managing the Public Sector (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Stillman, R. (2009). Public Administration: Concepts and Cases. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Public Administration in Brazil Public Adminstration in
Words: 4752 Length: 15 Document Type: Essay

Public Administration in Brazil PUBLIC ADMINSTRATION IN BRAZIL The grassroots and rural development happen to be the main concern and responsibility of any responsive government in a political system. This because the power of political participation is significant in any developmental process of a country which has persistently eluded many people at the grassroots level. Brazil as a developing country needs to take into consideration the significant of efficient administrative responsibilities in

Public Partnership in Serving Transitional
Words: 3360 Length: 12 Document Type: Thesis

By bringing into the equation of transitional services the special needs personnel at local colleges and vocational institutions, the interagency agreement described here will ensure that upon the student's eventual arrival at one such institution, there will be people familiar with his case and prepared to accommodate his needs. These respective agency types can then help a disabled student to train a focus on the specific career goals which

Public Sector Management the Term
Words: 4522 Length: 15 Document Type: Essay

It relies on the vision of the state you choose to subscribe and it depends upon the costs and benefits of a few highly imperfect social institutions: market trends and the public sector. (Bovaird, Loffler, 2003, p. 25) The public sector is a ubiquitous social institution having grown in size and complexity within the last fifty years. Nevertheless, this is a linear development. Whereas the development belonging to the

Public Policy-Making: Public School Funding
Words: 4206 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

The trial lasted seven months and Justice Leland Degrasse rendered his decision, 719 N.Y.S.2d 475 on January 10, 2001, in favor of plaintiffs and ordered the state to ensure that all public schools provide the opportunity for a sound basic education to their students." (Hunter, 2004) Entered, as part of this decision was a "costing-out study as the threshold task in developing a new school funding system." (Hunter, 2004)

Future of Shipping the Shipping
Words: 13729 Length: 55 Document Type: Term Paper

85). Newly independent countries joined in the shipping industry as a way of demonstrating their economic independence, leading to an increase in the number of open registers as owners in the traditional maritime countries could now register in countries with less demanding tax laws and lower costs for workers. Shipbuilding, which had long been dominated by Europe and North America, moved instead to East Asia. Other changes also took place

Question and Answer for Public Administration
Words: 3871 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

solid waste management in impoverished areas versus affluent areas by examining the social, economic, ethical, and political reasons for placement of landfills and other waste removal facilities in poorer neighborhoods. By exploring the background of specific social movements, the first section of the assignment will seek to explore why the government placed landfills in certain locations versus others. The essay will also seek to examine what caused the social

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now