What does the term “ethical governance” mean to you? Give an example to clarify. (200 Words) [UPPSC 2023]
Differentiating Between Democratic Attitude and Bureaucratic Attitude of Public Servants Democratic Attitude: Public Engagement: Public servants with a democratic attitude prioritize engaging with citizens, valuing public opinion, and ensuring transparency. For example, the Participatory Budgeting iRead more
Differentiating Between Democratic Attitude and Bureaucratic Attitude of Public Servants
Democratic Attitude:
- Public Engagement: Public servants with a democratic attitude prioritize engaging with citizens, valuing public opinion, and ensuring transparency. For example, the Participatory Budgeting initiatives in cities like Porto Alegre involve citizens in budget allocation decisions.
- Accountability: They emphasize accountability and responsiveness to the needs of the community, fostering a participatory approach in governance.
- Flexibility: Democratic public servants are generally more adaptable and open to reforms based on public feedback and evolving societal needs.
Bureaucratic Attitude:
- Hierarchical Approach: A bureaucratic attitude often involves a rigid adherence to established rules and protocols, with less emphasis on public consultation. For example, the traditional procedures in Indian administrative services can sometimes lead to bureaucratic red tape.
- Formality: Bureaucratic attitudes focus on formality and procedural correctness, which can sometimes result in a lack of flexibility and responsiveness.
- Decision-Making: Bureaucratic public servants may have a top-down approach, with decisions being made by higher authorities and limited input from the public.
Recent Example: The Digital India initiative showcases a blend of democratic and bureaucratic attitudes by using technology to improve transparency and citizen engagement, yet it also involves procedural elements typical of bureaucratic systems.
Conclusion: While democratic attitudes emphasize public engagement, flexibility, and accountability, bureaucratic attitudes focus on formality, procedural adherence, and hierarchical decision-making. Both approaches have their roles in effective public administration.
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Ethical governance means that the process of governance and decision-making is based on moral principles such as truth, justice, accountability, caring, and respect. It means leaders decide on certain policies and make decisions which will benefit the entire society differently benefiting all of theRead more
Ethical governance means that the process of governance and decision-making is based on moral principles such as truth, justice, accountability, caring, and respect. It means leaders decide on certain policies and make decisions which will benefit the entire society differently benefiting all of them. An ethically-governed institution looks at what is possible to do legally as well as what it is right to do.
An example would be the government passing legislation that is intended to protect consumers in dealing with the banking sector over issues to do with usurious credit. That maybe so legally provided the various banking laws but they are surely unethical in that they take advantage of those consumers who have little or no financial literacy to land them into terrible debts they cannot repay on loans they never fully understood. Ethical governance would force the politicians to close such loopholes and curb the procedures which would be detrimental to the poor and middle-class citizens by taking away their money in the name of a bank’s profit. The policies of corporate interests are to be subdued before the people’s values in terms of their moral good and requirement. This can be termed as the moral responsibility and concern for justice within society by the government.
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