Public Administration

Integrity in Administrative Leadership
Governance systems have been evolving at a rapid speed and have led to many ethical challenges. Public integrity has been on the frontline on issues dealing with ethics and aspects of leadership in modern public administrations. Queensland institute argue that the basic integrity challenge is behavioral in nature, and is rarely influenced by the structure of the institution. Integrity is often associated with the delivery of quality service and working in accordance with professional norms, rules and values.
                 
Moreover, public integrity refers   to the discharge of official duties and activities in an honest and trustworthy manner. Integrity assists in eradicating corruption and misuse of power in public institutions. Moreover, its a key element in ensuring timely and easy access of information to the public. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that integrity is composed of rules, practices and regulations that govern and enforce professional conduct in public organizations. In addition, integrity in public administration relates to structural arrangements put in place to enhance good governance (Raymond, 2006).
               
In public administration, various levels of state organs share the responsibility of implementing policies. The most recurring problem within the public system, whether federal or centralized, relates to ways of implementing policies effectively when authority is bargained rather than hierarchal. The negative attitude towards public administration can be attributed to lack of moral ethics in service delivery and coordination between the government and the civil society (Raymond, 2006). The fact that there is increasing pressure to stop or at least, reduce the rate of poor leadership, corruption and theft in both pubic and private institutions especially in Africa has not been a surprise since these nations top the list of most corrupt in the world. Urgency is required in tackling corruption and fraud within the public sectors in order to accelerate the rate of economic growth and uplift the living standards of people. Moreover, dealing with corruption and enhancing integrity will attract foreign investment and stimulate the development of domestic resources.
                 
One major strategy of instilling integrity within the public administration is to create strong institutions that enhance good governance and monitor the performance of the government. While addressing ethics in service delivery, the focus should be directed on professional behavior of every personnel including the civil servants, politicians, mangers, and the civil society. In addition, ethics acts as a non-material resource or asset which increases efficiency and promotes order and confidence within the administration.
                 
Olowu and Rasheed (1993) say that ethics and public administration are autonomous when delivering service and they should not be viewed as complimentary. The concept of accountability implies that each and every individual mandated with serving the public should be held liable for his action or inaction. This increases the level of transparency of the state, develops and emphasizes governmental responsiveness, legitimates and improves the implementation of policies (Raymond, 2006).
               
Many societies are characterized with same rights but unequal incomes which breed tension between principles of democracy in politics and the principles of economics in capitalism. Pubic administrations that value integrity enhance equality in political and social rights. In conclusion, conditions that enhance the development of integrity in public administrations include crafting a culture of accountability, competency, transparency and a responsive public system. 

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