Public Administration Ethics and Responsibility

Rule by law is a distinguishing principle of public administration in the United States. American systems of government operate on the principle that all public officials should rule by law rather than by will. Career officials balance, complement, stabilize, inform, and extend governing activities, and their professionalism helps meet the need for results. America has a long legacy of civic engagement that has taken many forms. Public Administrators should look more to the conditions necessary for reestablishing civic engagement than to replacing those functions with government programs and expertise. This community orientation requires certain virtues in career officials. The role of public administration in fostering civic engagement is strong in the American democratic republic. Public morality refers to moral and ethical standards enforced in a society. When taken together, these ten standards provide a coherent moral basis for public decisions. They produce practices and obligations with a distinct character that often confounds those who want to make government more businesslike