What is ethical egoism? How does it influence one’s ethical behavior? Explain

06, Jun 2019

Structure of answer:

• • Introduction (Say about ethical egoism and its behavior in general).
• • What is Ethical egoism?
• • How does it influence one’s ethical behavior?
• • Way forward.
• • Conclusion.

Key points:

• • Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion of one’s own good is in accordance with morality.
• • In the strong version, it is held that it is always moral to promote one’s own good, and it is never moral not to promote it.
• • People are also drawn to ethical egoism because it is consistent with many moral beliefs. For example, it is consistent with helping others.
• • According to ethical egoism, it is right to help others because it is usually in
  your self-interest to help them. Even religious morality seems to be based on self- interest.
• • Individual, opportunity, and social factors all affect the standards of behavior in an organization. Individual factors include things like moral values, attitudes, knowledge levels, and personal goals.

Explain the process of resolving ethical dilemmas in Public administration.

31, May 2019

Structure of answer:

• Introduction (basic information about ethical dilemmas in public administration).
• What are the ethical dilemmas in Public administration.
• What are the issues?
• How it can be resolved?
• Conclusion.

Keypoints:

• A dilemma is something wider and more demanding than a problem, however difficult or complex the latter may be (Rapoport, 1960).
• The reason is that dilemmas, unlike problems, cannot be solved in the terms in which they are initially presented to the decision-maker.
• Caught on the horns of a dilemma the decision-maker is not only faced with opposed and perhaps equally unwelcome alternatives; even worse their incompatible juxtaposition also implies that they are mutually exclusive in the sense that the satisfaction of the one can only be made if the other is sacrificed.
• It is then the case that solving a dilemma resembles a zero sum game, whereby the choice of one value alternative is necessarily followed by the negation of the other.
• ‘Solving’ the dilemma in such a way would, therefore, be a contradiction in terms and a misnomer, since the solution reached likewise would seem to be no more than a scission and a dichotomic split of the intertwined aspects of the issue at hand.
• The advanced set of fundamental principles or criteria that integrate and rearrange the process of dealing with ethical dilemmas in public administration are:
• Democratic accountability of administration.
• The rule of law and the principle of legality.
• Rofessional integrity and
• Responsiveness to civil society.

Ethics is the cornerstone of effective, efficient, democratic governance. Discuss.

31, May 2019

Structure of answer:

Key points:

• Governance and democracy.
• A peaceful and productive society is based oneffective state institutions.
• Good governance in this sense means effective andefficient structures which provide optimal support to citizens in leading a safe and productive life in line with their desires and opportunities.
• In international development, good governance is a subjective term that describes how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in the preferred way.
• Governance is “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)”.

What is meant by conflict of interest? Illustrate with examples, the difference between the actual and potential conflicts of interest.

31, May 2019

Structure of answer:

• Introduction (About conflict of interest)
• What is conflict of interest?
• Difference between the actual and potential conflict of interest.
• Conclusion.

Key points:

• Interest conflicts are caused by competition over perceived or actual incompatible needs. Such conflicts may occur over issues of money, resources, or time.
• Relationship conflicts occur when there are misperceptions, strong negative emotions, or poor communication.
• Ethics and Conflict of Interest.
• I define a conflict of interest as “a situation in which a person, such as a public official, an employee, or a professional, has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise of his or her official duties.
• Types of conflict of interest and duty. A conflict of interest is where an employee or director has private interests that could improperly influence, or be seen to influence, their decisions or actions in the performance of their public duties.

Examine the relevance of Probity and Integrity to civil services. Justify your answer using a suitable case study.

31, May 2019

Structure of answer:

• Introduction (What it relevance and significance to civil service).
• What is probity in ethics?
• What is integrity?
• Importance of probity and integrity in ethics.
• Case study.
• Conclusion.

Key points:

• Probity is the evidence of ethical behaviour in a particular process.
• For Government employees and agencies, maintaining probity involves more than simply avoiding corrupt or dishonest conduct.
• It involves applying public sector values such as impartiality, accountability and transparency.
• Integrity is following strong moral principles while Probity of having strong moral principle.
• Why it is important? It requires that Boards act ethically, impartially, honestly and with fairness.
• It has been defined by intellectuals that Probity is the indication of ethical behaviour in a particular process.
• The term probity entails integrity, uprightness and honesty.

1. Differentiate between private/public morality and political morality, why do people choosing political life require ethics different from personal morality? Elucidate

31, May 2019

Structure of the answer:

• Introduction(Explain the context of the question)
• What do you understand by private/public morality and political morality?
• Difference between private/public morality and political morality?
• What are the different factors involved in deciding the two types of morality?
• Case Study
• Conclusion.

Key Points.

Public Morality:

Political Morality:

• Political ethics (also known as political morality or public ethics) is the practice of making moral judgements about political action and political agents. It covers two areas.
• The first is the ethics of process (or the ethics of office), which deals with public officials and the methods they use.
• The second area, the ethics of policy (or ethics and public policy) concerns judgments about policies and laws.

Analyze the significance, composition and key functions of National crisis management committee

23, May 2019

Structure of the answer:

• Introduction ( say about committee)
• About NCMC.
• Its composition.
• Key functions.
• Conclusion (say about significance of such organs in handling crisis).

Key points:

• At the national level, Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) are the key committees involved in the top-level decision-making with respect to Disaster Management (DM).
• It deals with major crisis which have serious or national ramifications.
• Cabinet Secretary (Chairperson). Secretaries of Ministries / Departments and agencies with specific Disaster management responsibilities.
• Oversee the Command, Control and Coordination of the disaster response.  Give direction to the Crisis Management Group (CMG) as deemed necessary.

What is effect of social media on Democracy? Explain the role to be an enabler of transparency and democracy

23, May 2019

Structure of answer:

• Introduction ( Role of social media in general)
• Why social media is important to a democracy?
• How does it strengthen the democracy?
• Explain the relation between media and democracy and give some examples.
• Discuss the current issue.
• Way forward (Explain how one can handle the issue)
• Conclusion (Your general opinion)

Key points:

• The media can promote democracy by among other things, educating voters, protecting human rights, promoting tolerance among various social groups, and ensuring that governments are transparent and accountable.
• Instead of promoting democracy, they can contribute to democratic decay.
• The democracy of the public sphere is in the participation of citizens who provide information to the media and share it to society.
• Media democracy advocates that corporate ownership and commercial pressures influence media content, sharply limiting the range of news, opinions, and entertainment citizens receive.
• What role media play? It has been playing a very important role in shaping human minds. Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy.
• It is the backbone of a democracy.Media makes us aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around the world.
• How does it strengthen? To provide information to people is like providing power to the people so that they can contribute to the democratic or political process.
• So, contribution of people to the process of governance by gaining information from the media definitely enhances the democracy.