Public Service Ethics: The case of Bangladesh

Abstract

Enhancing and nurturing ethics in the public service is mandatory to curb corruption and provide efficient service delivery. The environment of public service ethics in Bangladesh faces multidimensional challenges. In spite of the presence of the legal and institutional support the occurance of unethical behavior is continuing. This paper outlines the structure of ethical administration; both legal and institutional. Then it explores the political and cultural backdrop of public service ethics in Bangladesh in an attempt to find out the reasons behind the prevailing unethical behavior. It takes a explorative approach depending mainly on secondary data. By analyzing the background and existing literature the paper concluds that the field of public service ethics in Bangladesh is marred with politicization, lack of leadership initiative, colonial legacy of corrution, diminishing citizen's trust and apahetic attitude. Geenuine practice of the core values of the public service is required to create a conducive environment for ethics. The identification of values that are less practiced and the negative traits that are rampant in the public service will enable policy makers to set effective strategies.