Revisiting Ethics and Accountability in Public Service: An Overview Beniwal Vijender Singh Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, Govt. College for Women (GJUST), Hisar, Haryana, India Email id: vijay.beni76@gmail.com
Online Published on 13 February, 2024. Abstract “Accountability” stands out as a prominent concept in contemporary governance. The pursuit of accountability is evident not only within national jurisdictions but also among supranational policy actors such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, among others. “Public accountability” has become a central theme in global public management reforms. This paper explores two distinct usages of the term “accountability” in scholarly literature and political discourse: “accountability of virtue” and “accountability of mechanism.” While both usages are valuable, they address different issues, imply different standards, and invoke distinct analytical dimensions. From ancient times (illustrated in the Bhagavad Gita’s Dharma paradigm) to modernity (shifting from teleological ethics to deontological ethics), two primary ethical frameworks have shaped contemporary philosophical thinking. Undoubtedly, the results-based or utilitarianism-maximization/techno-rational tradition, i.e., teleological reasoning, overwhelmingly dominates public governance worldwide. This paradigm guides efforts to address local and global challenges, such as development, terrorism, and climate change. Numerous studies, including the Adolf Eichmann problem, recognize that current ethical standards within organizations, institutions, or professions are insufficient for resolving complex moral dilemmas faced by administrators, often marked by ambiguity and paradox. The Friedrich (1940)-Finer (1941) debate remains a valuable tool for describing the ethical landscape in public administration. This paper examines the tension between the “ethics of duty” and the “ethics of result” within this dichotomy. It aims to explore an ethical framework for accountable and responsible behavior in the realm of public governance. Top Keywords Accountability, Ethics, Public service. Top |