Public Interest And Discussion Paper

When we speak of the public service, the public interest comes to mind. Lewis (2006) defined public interest as “the sum of individual, private interests articulated as political demands that the political system including the public manager, must aggregate into public action”. As public administrators, we are entrusted with serving the interest of the people through implementing policies into actions to solve societal problems, as such, me are expected to uphold certain values. The commission for peer review and accreditation, Network of Schools of Public Policy Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) provided a list of public service values which include "pursuing the public interest with accountability and transparency; serving professionally

Inefficient management of those functions and services creates a problem for citizens. Being efficient is being able to accomplishes our mandate (service delivery) within a time frame with the use of limited resources whilst maintaining a constant level of quality. As indicated by Rainey (2014), public organizations operate under pressure to perform competently as demands for efficiency from them is high. This demand for efficiency comes from both the people and government. For instance, government is concerned about how administrators manage public funds and government

To ensure that I am ethical in my cause of work, I make sure that I am guided by morality at the same time abide by the code of conduct of my bureau. Ethics in public administration is linked to accountability and transparency. Being accountable and transparent to the public is a key feature of a public administrator as they measure our effectiveness. Being accountable simply implies being answerable to our actions as public administrators. we should abide by laws and directives issued by government if it is in the interest of the majority. This provides accounts of our compliance (Rainey, 2014). Accountability and control are very reliable. The downside however is that, it is relatively slow and cumbersome, and it is subject to the criticism that public administrators can become so concerned with obeying rules that they can lose sight of the overall goal or mission. I have seen so many cases, especially in public security where the system has failed individuals it was supposed to protect due to the rigid laws and procedures that needs to be followed. Although the aim is to be ethical, our decisions end up defying our purpose. Thus, as a public administrator, I will ensure that ethical issues are identified and addressed