INTEGRITY. Integrity and ethics: concepts (1) NASC BAT IG What does integrity mean to the individual civil servant? Commitment to work Competency.

INTEGRITY

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Integrity and ethics: concepts (1)

What does integrity mean to the individual civil servant? Commitment to work Competency and ethical character Transparency, trust and trustworthiness

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Integrity and ethics: concepts (2)

Government bodies and administrators act in ways that inspire public trust. It entails competency, transparency, honesty, commitment, ethical standards of public service.

Ethics refers to well founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

Higher ethical standard and practices is critical in administering work to gain public trust.

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Ethics Framework

serving the public interest

transparency

integrity

legitimacyfairness

responsiveness

efficiency and

effectiveness

EthicsEthics

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Ethical vs unethical behaviour

Group work: Video case study Work in groups and use the video case Read the case study and discuss:

What is your opinion on the character of Mr. Acharya?

What are the characteristics of an ethical person? What are the characteristics of an unethical

person? Make notes on paper and be prepared to share

their findings verbally in plenary. You have 30 minutes for group works and plenary.

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Key learning points

An ethical behaviour applies to proper conduct. Unethical behaviour is not to abide by the rules of morality.

Being ethical means maintaining integrity all the time and take risks for a good cause

Ethics is more than compliance with rules, regulations etc.

Ethics is subjective and contextual

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Consequences of unethical behaviour

What are the consequences of unethical behaviour of civil servants? Legal consequences Morale decline and negative image Trust deficit Violation of rule of law Corruption increases WPE suffer most

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Integrity promoting framework

Values and standards

Commitment

Communication

Continuous and

consistent actions

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Consolidating concepts: integrity, ethics and curbing corruption

What does “zero tolerance to corruption” mean?

What structures and mechanisms are in place in Nepal to control corruption and promote integrity?

Corruption: past and present

CorruptionPast Present

• Temporary• Exceptional ‘problem’• Wealth and power• Can be eradicated• No positive aspect• Local agenda• Women in corruption control• Singular focus• Cannot be measured • Decentralization, privatization, deregulation are the tools for control• Anticorruption agencies• Aid: a panacea• Democracy

• Permanent concern• Universal• Rules and roles• Cannot be totally eradicated• Some positive aspects • Global agenda• Gender and corruption• Demand and supply side anti-corruption• Can be measured• One size does not fit all

• Anticorruption agencies: Rhetoric vs Reality• Aid: a challenge• The cancer of corruption and governance

Survey findings

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Frequency-dependent Equilibria

A, B, & C are 3 equilibrium points. A & C are stable but B is not. It does not pay to be corrupt at A, and honest at C. B is indifferent (between being corrupt and honest).

Source: Pranab Bardhan, 1997

No one is corruptProportion of a given total number of officials (or transactions) that is known to be corrupt

Marginal benefit for a corrupt official

Marginal benefit for a honest official

The benefit of an honest official is higher than that of a corrupt official when very few officials are corrupt

But it declines as the proportion of corrupt officials increases

The M curve goes up at the beginning when more and more officials are corrupt but ultimately declines

Becomes even negative when almost all others are corrupt

Collective Action Dilemma

Action: A

Honest Corrupt

Action: B

Honest (H, H)

(H, C)

Corrupt

(C, H)

(C, C)

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Mechanisms to control corruption and promote integrity:

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Legal provisions: civil service act, CS code of conduct, good governance act, RTI act,

Institutional arrangements: NVC, PSC, CIAA, NHRC, National Information Commission, Courts—Regular and special.

Quasi-judicial bodies— tribunals, District Administration Office and authority to CDO

Civil Societies, User Groups, Watchdog Organizations, Media etc.

International commitments, eg: ratification of UNCAC

Solutions and remedies

A ‘lawyer’s approach Toughening laws & legislations

A ‘businessman’s approach Offering incentives to officials to disengage from corruption (buy out corruption).

A ‘market’ or an ‘economist’s approach Introduce or increase competition

An ‘institutional’ approach Genuine political/leadership commitment

Lesson learned from CPI top ranked countries

Administrative culture: rules are brief, clear and strict few level of bureaucracy autonomy on the local level collective decision system job security (a public official‘s bread may be

thin but at least it is long) the presence of women in decision making

post

Lesson learned from CPI top ranked countries

Transparency of the work Supervision of decision:

- Justice and the Parliamentary

Ombudsman Law enforcement:

- National Bureau of Investigation

Lesson learned from CPI top ranked countries

Social factors: equality in income welfare society high standard of living (the higher the

standard of living, the lower the level of corruption)

media

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Action

PromotionalPreventive

Punitive

Punishment

ReformEducation

References

Graaf, Gjalt De, 2007, Causes Of Corruption: Towards A Contextual Theory Of Corruption, Public Administration Quarterly, 39-86.

Jain, Arvind, 2001, Corruption: A Review, Journal of Economic Surveys Vol 15, No.1, 71-121

Pinto, Jonathan; Carrie R. Leana; Frits K. Pil, 2008, Corrupt Organizations Or Organizations Of Corrupt Individuals? Two Types Of Organization-level Corruption, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, 685–709.

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Thank You