Conceptual perspectives on factors and considerations for enhancing ethical governance in Public Administration

Abstract

Throughout the world, establishing and promoting a proper foundation for ethical governance in public administration has become in itself, a daunting challenge, given the constantly changing internal and external environments impacting on public administration. The goodness of ethical governance in public administration can be enhanced through conceptual perspectives on factors and considerations– such as values as ethical anchors; ethical organisational culture; ethical foundations of decision making; ethics in leadership; and responses to ethical issues. These conceptual perspectives can contribute to discovering and identifying what is in the public interest; perpetuating assured and consistent individual and collective behaviour by aligning own values to those underpinning ethical governance in public administration; making judgments and assessments which can be articulated and justified in any institutional or public forum, through deep self-reflection, engagement and dialogue; and realising and understanding that individual and collective behaviour in day-to-day practice may have their roots or origins in some ethical dispute, ethical question or tension.