Q. What are the "two faces of irresponsibility."?
Irresponsibility has two faces and they are willfully inadequate work and unethical activities. Both these faces are representation of diversion of resources of public from demand and preferences fulfillment. By bending programs goals and policy direction from its targeted objectives, in addition to use of information from public organization and personal gain derived from access of key people are both sides of failure or irresponsibility.
Q. What are two weaknesses of ethics laws?
Weaknesses of Ethics Law are:
General conditions are addressed but they lack in case of specific situations. Thus, law interpretation for specific situations is problematic and inherently indeterminate by some degree, which depends upon the interpreter’s knowledge and extensive precedent established through previous cases.
It has been difficult to enforce ethics legislation. The reason for infrequent and irregular prosecution has been reluctance shown in reporting colleagues, difficult scenarios faced in evidence acquisition and existing loopholes in ethics law.
Q. What are two weaknesses of ethics codes?
Weaknesses of ethics code are:
They are vague, lofty and abstract in nature which makes their application difficult in certain situations where guidance of ethics id required.
In most cases, professional group’s code has no means to gain compliance. Either figuratively or literally, these codes become the elegant plaques left hanging on office walls and ignored thereafter.
Q. What is the "Friedrich-Finer Debate?" What is the recommended outcome of that debate?
Friedrich-Finer Debate discusses external controls and internal controls as policy perspectives. The viewpoints made by them during 1930’s in a debate are still alive between many scholars and practitioners. In their theories, Friedrich has asserted internal controls as important and Finer’s importance on external controls and institutional control.
The recommended choice or outcome in case of this debate depends upon where the emphasis lies. The choice lies between whether to give more significance to improvement of management controls, attention to pass laws and accurate performance evaluation procedure or choose training, education, counseling and process of professional socialization.
Q. Why is Trevino important to this debate?
Trevino's model was the starting point from which understanding of how organizations would design and execute system to bolster moral conviction and individual's sense of efficacy while simultaneous promotion of ethical behavior via organizational structures and rules. Trevino’s approach states moral behavior has been grounded within cognitive process and organizational and individual characteristics are moderated by these processes. "Ethical decision-making behavior can be better explained and predicted by the interaction of personal and situational variables" (Cooper).
Q. What is the advantage of having internal controls?
Advantages of Internal Control:
Internal controls tend to create creative and responsive bureaucracy. Even in cases when external controls work, they end up preventing administrator from addressing unique dimensions in concrete situations.
Internalized values by administrator remain present in decision situations. Internal controls exist to operate even in case of lack of discipline, absent supervisor, corrupt administrator.
Q. What is the advantage of having external controls?
Advantages of external controls:
Ethics Legislation provides broad constraints where dilemmas and ethical conflicts which are faced by public administrators are resolved; these laws become the formal statements for minimum moral requirement for community.
Ethics Codes have much farther reach than ethics laws for projection of norms, ideals and obligations required for professional groups. Ethics laws focuses at conflict of interests and are negative in its prescriptions.
Q. What is the disadvantage of having internal controls?
Disadvantage of internal controls:
Reliability is an issue with Internal Controls. In case an administrator applies their own values in making decisions it is not certain that that decision will not be self-serving. It is also possible that there can be conflict in competing values.
Q. What is the disadvantage of having external controls?
Disadvantage of External Controls:
Any attempt to impose ethics laws might erode government employee’s morale. When laws become highly restrictive and detailed, it breeds resentment among administrators because threatened discretion.
Even in cases where Code of Ethics consists of enforcement mechanism and there is active use, they might end up being meaningless.
Q. In the Fair City Police Department case, what were the internal controls?
Internal control in Fair City Police Department case is norms of the police subculture.
Q. In the Fair City Police Department, what were the external controls?
External controls in Fair City Police Department case are laws and even departmental regulations.
Q. In the Die Free case, what are the internal controls?
Internal control in Die Free case is ethical norms of physicians
Q. In the Die Free case, what are the external controls?
External controls in Die Free case the Natural Death Act and the courts
Q. What are the four components of responsible conduct? List them and give an example of each?
Individual Attributes
It comprises of Ethical Decision making skill, Mental Attitude, Virtues and Professional Values.
Organization Structure
It comprises of Clear accountability, collaborative arrangements, Dissent challenge and participation procedures.
Organization Culture
It comprises of exemplars, norms of conduct and symbols.
Societal Expectations
It comprises of Public Participation and Laws & Procedures.
Q. According to Rohr, what are the 3 main "regime values" reflected in the US Consititution?
According to Rohr, what are the 3 main "regime values" reflected in the US constitution are:
The beneficial aspects of a pluralism of interests
The creative possibilities in conflict
The sovereignty of the public
Q. Explain how "culture can subvert organizational ethics."
Culture of an organization may subvert efforts of the leader to inculcate desired attributes and creating organization culture that is supportive. The leader can do a effective choice in selection and training individuals and organizational structure might have accountability, dissent channels, supportive leadership and collaborative channels but informal culture might discourage ethical standards with unethical acts or conduct of employees.
Q. Of the four components of responsible conduct, which one is key?
Societal Expectations
Q. How do each of the other three support that one? List each component and show how that component supports the key one.
In design of democratic polity, the fundamental relationship is between social expectations and other three components of responsibility conduct. Public Administrator’s individual attributes have to be supportive of response to democratic public via committing for respect for law and citizen participation, Organizational structure should provide public access channels and organizational culture should be based on norms which incline public organizations an its members to abide the law by engaging the public in process of governance.
Q. Describe the difference between the old approach to public administration and the new approach.
The difference between the old approach to public administration and the new approach:
- Everyone recognizes administrators are involved in policymaking and politics inevitably.
- Everyone recognizes necessity for political control of some form over the bureaucracy.
- Everyone acknowledges the necessity of internal controls and administrative responsibility due to inadequacy of external political controls.
- “Everyone excepts Harmon acknowledge the importance of having external points of reference that enhance responsible conduct through the internal values they engender; among these points are public management techniques, professional standards, and democratic government” (Cooper).
Q. What is Andrew Jackson's role in the existence of ethics laws and codes?
“Legislation dealing with the ethical conduct of public officials first emerged in the United States in the post-Jacksonian era of the mid-nineteenth century. In 1829, with the inauguration of President Andrew Jackson, the "common men" of Jackson's campaign replaced what they viewed as the entrenched vested interests in the federal government . In the absence of any concept of the public servant or a professional perspective on government employment, the jobs they claimed were regarded as "the legitimate rewards for service to the party"—the spoils of victory. It is not surprising then that influence peddling, selling information, and the use of public funds for personal gain were commonplace. Consequently, the first conflict of interest laws were passed during the period from 1853 to 1864 to deal with these abuses. Resorting to legislation as a means of dealing with ethical problems has a substantial history of more than 150 years in the United States” (Cooper).
References
Cooper, T. L. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. Retrieved from. Pg. 615
