Ethics of public service and public servants
When talking about public ethics, it simply refers to applied ethics and implementation in government affairs. It is the ethics applied on public servants, understanding by these those people who occupy or public office either by election, opposition or other means, and who have a responsibility before the State. These responsibilities translate into concrete acts oriented made the common interest and/or citizenship. Public ethics then refers to human acts as they are carried out by rulers and public officials in the fulfillment of duty. Integrity into the human being guides behavior while allowing acting according to values. It is essential that public servants, understanding those who occupy a public office and serve the State (politicians, officials and all who provide their services in public institutions), carry out a noble behavior when they occupy a position. When these personnel have probity, execute each action based on the right reason and accompanying a scale of values. An exhaustive deliberation regarding the way of preventing individuals who occupy public office. If the individual has already decided. In any case, the decision to act or stop. And the latter can be achieved thanks to sensitization, the development of consciousness, the maturity of judgment, the result of the establishment of internal principles and a mastery of character. It is the principles and character that prevent or motivate a person, and ethics is the discipline that shows them.
At the moment when ethics is applied to the public sphere, it is called "public ethics" or "ethics for public policy and administration". The ethics applied to the public function is of vital importance because it has as its central axis the idea of service, that is, the tasks and activities carried out by public servants are oriented to the satisfaction of the plurality of interests of the members of the political community. It is also a powerful control mechanism for arbitrariness and antivalores practiced in the use of public power. It is an essential factor for the creation and maintenance of trust in administration and its institutions, while a key instrument to raise the quality of policy and public management thanks to honest, efficient and integral behavior of public servants. The excellence of public management issues can be achieved and maintained if there are public servants with solid ethical conduct criteria. Every individual who participates in the public function must be aware that the public service is defined as the action of the government to meet the demands and needs of the people who integrate the State.
The public servant is due to his community, his salary is paid by society and therefore has a responsibility and commitment to it. Politicians, together with their team of officials and technicians, have the responsibility to direct public affairs and resolve them. For that they set out to be candidates. That is why they are government. That’s what governments serve. For their part, officials and technical team, when working for politicians and being the operators of public institutions, become co -responsible in the government function. The politician and the public official should not forget that they are to serve the community and not to use it. Public ethics fundamentally implies a relationship with politics, so its field of action is not limited only to public officials.
A good governance, to be considered as such, requires not only responsible but also responsible political officials, since it is these who enjoy the maximum margin of autonomy in decisions and, on these decisions it depends in turn the action of the officials. Any government will be legitimized if it defends and applies a true public ethics because it entails responsibility, spirit of service, as well as attention, equity and justice for the citizen. To have good governments, it is first required to have good individuals. This is where ethics enters when forming and improving people. Just performing good action or doing it well, public servants are already complying with ethical precepts. However, this premise, however simple it may seem, is difficult to achieve, as evidenced by the numerous undue behaviors that are practiced daily. The study of public ethics responds to one of the three qualities that the Greek philosophers and sages pointed out when they referred to the characteristics that any individual should have to aspire to occupy a public office:
- Loyalty to the established constitution
- Capacity for office
- Virtue and justice
The ethics of the public servant, responds to two fundamental aspects: a moral obligation that is typical of the individual, that is, the consciousness that the server must have that their actions must adapt them to norms of conduct identified with aspects of responsibility, complianceand honesty. The second aspect refers to the threat of the application of sanctions for the event that in the exercise of its violent position or separates from the constitutional, legal or regulatory provisions that make it creditor to a sanction that can be of various types. In compliance with its functions and duties, the public servant is obliged to develop his activity in accordance with the constitutional, legal, regulatory and statutory provisions;and, in principle, you must guide your action by applying principles of compliance, honesty and responsibility;Exercise your position, functions or activities with strict adherence to the regulations governing the administration.
The issue of ethics in public service is directly related to the behavior of officials who occupy public positions, such individuals must act as an ethical pattern, showing moral values such as good faith and other principles necessary for a healthy life in society. When a person is chosen for a public office, society puts its trust in it, and hopes that it fulfills an ethical pattern. Thus, that person must be at the same level of that trust and exercise their function following certain values, principles, ideals and norms. In the same way, the public servant must assume the commitment to promote social equality, to fight for the creation of jobs, develop citizenship and strengthen democracy. For this, it must be prepared to implement policies that benefit the country and the community in the social, economic and political fields. A professional who plays a public function should be able to think strategically, innovate, cooperate, learn and unlearn when necessary, develop more effective ways to work. Unfortunately, corruption cases in the field of public service are the result of professionals who do not work in an ethical way.
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