A democratic public administration demands accountability

 

A democratic public administration demands accountability at every level. How can we be assured that our public servants are held to a high level of responsiveness, fairness, honesty, and competence? Is it enough that voters elect representatives and that those representatives monitor executive agencies, or is there a broader range of instruments for assuring these qualities in our agencies? Examine the characteristics of administrative accountability, giving examples and cite sources.

 

Sample Solution

Today, American Society for Public Administration`s (ASPA) Code of Ethics gives us standards for government workers and criteria for candidates for appointed elected office to follow. It expects all public servants to: advance the public interest by subordinating personal interests and loyalties to serve all persons with courtesy and dedication to high standards above service to oneself; uphold the Constitution and the law by respecting, supporting and improving government constitutions, laws and policies by promoting equality, fairness, representativeness, responsiveness and due process in protecting citizens` rights and promoting the public; and strive for the highest standards of stewardship in all public service groups by holding all accountable for their efficient stewardship of public funds and resources through the open expression of dissent.

tes each individual and implement policies to obtain maximum performance from a group. The importance of the leaders role in motivating individuals is highlighted in Herzberg’s Two Factor theory. The theory highlights factors that must be in place to avoid dissatisfaction, hygiene factors, and factors that promote satisfaction, motivation factors, shown in Figure 4 (Pettinger, 2007). Herzberg’s theory helps to decipher what motivates individuals, but does not advise on how to implement this to produce maximum productivity from an individual, this is achieved by using the theory in conjunction with other motivational theories such as goal setting theory. Figure 4: Hygiene and Motivating Factors (Pettinger,, 2006) Goal setting is not just an important part of motivation, they are essential for both teamwork and successful leadership, they provide indication on what must be achieved, how much effort they must devoted to achieve it and they act as the primary source of job motivation for individuals, therefore setting them accurately is essential (Pettinger 2007). Specific and clear goals are the most effective motivators, and will lead to optimum performance, therefore it becomes essential for a leader to understand what motivates each individual within a group (Pettinger, 2007). Motivation is highly personal, and can differ massively across a group, so the leader must adapt how they motivate to suit each individual, this highlights the need for an organisation to implement policies that allow leaders to be flexible in how they reward individuals. Issues arise when goals are not set well, if the goals are ambiguous, unachievable or too easy then the individual will lose motivation (Pettinger, 2007). Once goals have been set it becomes essential for leaders to regularly assess how individuals are progressing towards them, if well then goals should be made more challenging, if they are struggling then the goals should be made easier. Goals also allow for leader to assess how the team are performing, and how their leadership style is functioning with the group, if goals are not being met the leader must adapt how the team interact together or their leadership style to achieve them.

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