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Maintaining a high ethical standard in the civil service is crucial to its ongoing reengineering and adaptation to meet the ever-increasing expectations of the public. In this
context, a code of ethics is often developed for the civil service in many countries. Discuss
the effectiveness of this measure.
The public sector is no different from the private sector in that it is made up of large numbers of
employees and considerable amounts of capital and material resources, all of which require
technical, operational and managerial skills in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. The
public sector, however, is more concerned with the above resources in relation with the
fulfillment of government policies and regulations and may not be profit-driven per se. Given
that it is the sector of any nation which has the responsibility and capacity to bring about key
changes in terms of infrastructure, literacy and/or poverty levels, the civil service necessarily
needs to be geared towards a high ethical standard, irrespective of the political agenda of the
government of the day, in spite of the varying degrees to which a nation is dependent on the
public/private sectors dichotomy.
In such situations where large amounts of resources human, material as well as financial are
at the disposal of a few institutions, a code of ethics is unavoidably required in order to bridge
the gaps that undoubtedly exist between the different notions of morality, duty and obligation
that are upheld by different individuals. If a code is simplistically defined as a set of guiding
principles by which members of a particular group are expected or sometimes forced to adhere
to, then a code of ethics is that set of guiding principles that clearly demarcate between correct
and incorrect behaviors and conduct. In reality, most, if not every, organization should have a
code of ethics that have a commonality of principles integrity, honesty, hard work,
transparency, amongst others. For example, every association of professionals or employee
should have a statement of mission and vision of an ethical nature that will not only keep
existing members in line, but will also form the basis of training for newcomers or future
generations. In the case of the civil service, no matter the size that varies from nation to nation,
the code of ethics is particularly relevant since, unlike private organizations that ultimately and
as much as possible have to abide by government policies and regulations, the public sector is at
the heart of the policymaking process and a lack of transparency can easily spiral into

uncontrollable situations that range from high levels of corruption to nepotism or military
dictatorship.
The conception, implementation as well as the evaluation of a code of ethics common to all is
therefore crucial. Just as a private organization of any size is constantly under a process of
change, innovation and structural improvement, so must the public sector ideally be. In most
cases, public opinion is the driving force of such change whereby unsatisfactory public leaders
are asked to step down while others are elected in order to generate policies that the civic society
feels are important for the betterment of society as a whole. In order to do so, the civil service
has to establish the parameters of conduct, so that acceptable behavior is determined, thereby
ensuring a uniformly high standard in all government agencies. The code of ethics, therefore, is
the document that will stipulate the following:
-

The obligations of duties any public officer has

The definition of the norms of accepted behavior,
Adherence to a principled standard of performance or practice,
The practice of self-evaluation vis--vis the code of ethics on a daily basis.

This code of ethics, if properly conceptualized, can be an exhaustive list of rules of proper
behavior that is objectively and fairly grounded, in a spirit of equality and integrity that will also
help to lessen the differences in ethics that will inevitably exist between different employees.
Through the code of ethics, public servants may be inspired into a sense of righteous
professionalism and may discard any previously established system of wastage, inefficiency and
unethical standards that promoted selfish conduct and promotion. If values of integrity,
transparency and the willpower to abstain from unethical practices such as bribery, blackmailing
or disrespect to others are upheld, then it is possible that the civil service be a sector that the
populace can rely on and trust that common resources are being utilized to their optimum. Unlike
the case of private organizations that may be based on principles that may not be similar to those
of the public, for instance, the public sectors code of ethics is in fact meant to be representative
of the ideals both aspired by the civic population as well as being meaningful to them. Public
officers will be provided an ethical framework which will facilitate the carrying out of activities
on a day-to-day basis. In fact, being rid of ethical differences between different colleagues, for
instance, will permit them to accomplish the duties and obligations in a more objective and

efficient manner. As the priority of every public officer is to carry out the government policies,
any delay or deterioration in the provision of governmental services or in the running of
management tasks will ultimately impact on the overall success of the government policies,
which in turn will negatively influence the image of the government of the day. For, it should be
remembered, every public officer, not matter of which rank, grade or position, is undeniably a
representative of the civil service. During working hours as well as off hours, any unscrupulous
act or behavior will predictably shed light onto the whole department or agency in a negative
matter. The code of ethics, therefore, is also put in place in order to sensitize the employees of
the public sector to the most fundamental rules of conduct.
The civil service as a whole may put down a code of ethics that has a universal appeal but each
agency can tailor it in more specific ways. Given the difference in nature between certain
professions such as engineering and medicine, there may be a pressing need to tackle nuanced
issues such as adequate qualifications, lack of expertise or professional oaths that can be used to
better carry out government policies. The code of ethics, while binding the public officers to both
her/his profession as well as to the position s/he occupies within the civil service, should also
serve as a badge of honor to the employees, who ideally will be instilled with a sense of
patriotism, efficiency, professionalism and a deep sense of commitment and belonging to both
the profession and the position. In spite of the lofty ideals that the code of ethics represents,
implementing them may actually be more complicated in reality. First of all, most public sectors
suffer from an inherent lack of consistence, which means that well-lauded initiatives, however
useful, are rapidly forgotten and overlooked in the long run. Constant changes in the elected
government officials can render the code of ethics a mere symbol of political propaganda. In the
same way the picture of the head representative of the ruling party is changed or dusted after
each election, the code of ethics is often seen as yet another piece of document that undergoes
simultaneous change. As a result, it is seen as being too abstract and unachievable, sometimes
fatalistically due to its lofty idealism.
As far as such codes go, just as frameworks and systems, they are untenable if not properly
sustained and improved. If, for instance, a training committee or initiation of practice is not put
in place, then most employees may revert back to their old ways of behaving/reacting due to a
lack of understanding. For, it is crucial for them to understand in which ways their actions and

behaviors can be changed, and to which ends. Perhaps, dealing with values as simple as
efficiency and/or courtesy, however trivial they may sound, is much easier than dealing with
other such as integrity in face of corruption. One reason the civil sector is often looked down
upon is that the high officials are often the results of electoral winnings, which means that the
government of the day will place its members at the heads of most ministries and departments
rather than select individuals worthy of the positions thanks to their experience or qualifications.
Short of using sweeping generalizations, it is safe to say that old boys networks and cronyism
are the most common ways of handling over high profile positions in all state agencies once the
election has been concluded. As was mentioned before, the constant changes in ruling parties, as
is the case in Mauritius, often undermines the consistency to which a document as minor
though with momentous impact as a code of ethics can be implemented for long term.
In spite of the smoothing out of differences, codes of ethics still face the risk of being
misinterpreted or misunderstood, with the danger of creating semantically nuanced and personal
preferences to them. Then, instead of bringing the workforce into a united body, the code of
ethics, if considered at all, will drive different sections of the employees away from each other.
Moreover, if cronyism is the nature through which top positions are filled, then it is undoubtedly
safe to contend that the work culture in itself is based on a shaky foundation. Rather than foster a
sense of meritocracy and hard work in a top-down cascade, it will only serve to encourage a
sense of complacency and disinterest at middle and lower managerial levels. From there on, it is
unsurprising that the civil service work culture would degenerate into a system of unchecked
bribery and corruption, especially of the top officials, the assumed role models and guides, are
suspected of abuses of power, as is the case in certain African nations. The application of double
moral standards may be the reason behind which certain high profile officials are never stopped,
just in the same way external organizations or associations that act as watchdogs are suppressed
and forcibly made to turn a blind eye when such violations and transgressions are committed. In
certain countries, corrupt officials do not hesitate to turn to bloodshed in order to ensure that the
above situation is reached.
The government of Mauritius is the largest single employer of the economy, with about 85, 000
employees in the public sector, comprising of local government bodies, public corporations and
other state agencies. A welfare state, the civil service of Mauritius is also the provider of public

goods/services such as the provision of water, electricity as well as free education, transport for
the young and elderly and free healthcare for all, while maintaining law and order. Moving from
a British administration unto a civil service with seemingly democratically and meritocratically
elected public officers of every rank after independence in 1968, the contemporary public sector
faces increasing scrutiny as its standard of ethics is being questioned by the public as a whole. As
more counts of corruption and abuses of power come to light, often at an international level, the
whole image of the island nation as a haven of offshore companies, foreign investment and a
coveted touristic spot is being corroded by the mishandling of civil duties and obligations. With a
history that dates not more than three centuries, it is an astonishing fact that the situation of the
civil service has reached such complexity. Just as any organization is expected to re-engineer its
processes and to rejuvenate itself, so must the local civil service. Perhaps, in the same fashion of
attacking a spreading social ill, many levels should be addressed at once. Starting from the grass
root level, the citizenship in its entirety should be instilled with a code of ethics that will
eventually become part of the national culture. Rather than being seen as a nation with an
easygoing, complacent national culture, Mauritius should instead start cultivating its younger
generation as future gatekeepers of ethics.
The setting up of an entirely independent association that will act as watchdog is also important,
if not to primarily reassure the civic society of its freedom to information, transparency and to
the generation of its opinion. Quite certainly, the freedom of the press is a key player and its role
should be objectively maintained by private individuals. Regular independent audits should take
place within the civil service in order to ensure than not only has the code of ethics been
understood, implemented but has also been maintained by one and all. The above measures all
point to the necessity of having a deeply committed and proactive sense of civic participatory
democracy that will bring the civilians closer to the policymaking process, not simply at time
campaigns are being designed, but also at the time of real-time public administration. As the
reports by Transparency International keep revealing, a poor public system and its administration
lead to a society that is deeply rooted in corruption, bribery, poor national development and
oftentimes in the severe violations of human rights. Yet, a seemingly clean public system is not
always a good indicator of to-the-norms public administration. As the international organization
points out, malpractices are often committed overseas by public administrators, as testified by
the Petrobras and La Lnea scandals uncovered in Brazil in 2015. Such scandals signal a

shrinking of public trust in governmental policies and administration as well as of democracy.

When considering a document as the code of ethics in comparison with the breadth of
destruction that scandals can cause to nation, it may seem improbable that much can be achieved
in nations with increasingly high rates of corruption. If constitutional laws can be violated
without remorse by crooked politicians, then it is unsurprising that the public may feel fatalistic
towards such any endeavor, however noble, as the code of ethics.
The code of ethics, in spite of its bearings on politically fraught issues, is a document that
represents not simply the condition of the public administration, but also of the nation, the
society and of the individual. While most constitutional documents may undergo lengthy and
unnecessary debates and amendments, the code of ethics is perhaps more straightforward and
less contestable in nature. Yet, simply having one in a public administration does not necessarily
imply that its values are upheld and more conscious effort needs to be put in its implementation
and maintenance, irrespective of the ruling party of the day.

References
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