Ethical Leadership: Promoting Trust in Public Administration and Governance
The actions of a leader are crucial in promoting trust, good conduct, and entrenching an ethical culture. The moral credibility of leaders in public administration helps boost the effectiveness of formal ethics regulation. As such, ethical leadership is a chief component of good governance in the public sector since it significantly affects public trust in all government agencies. Ethical leadership refers to the values, culture, procedures, and processes which promote high standards of behavior, for example, integrity and transparency. Trust in public administration and governance is strongly associated with ethical governance and performance. This paper examines ethical leadership as a public policy issue that can be used to promote trust in public administration and governance. The decline in public trust can be attributed to the failure of the performance of government officials. People will express trust in government agencies through collaboration, especially in instances where they are involved in decision making.
Annotated Bibliography
Beshi, T. D., & Kaur, R. (2020). Public trust in local government: Explaining the role of good governance practices. Public Organization Review, 20(2), 337-350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-019-00444-6
This resource explores how good governance impacts public trust in local government. It is based on a conceptual model tested in Bahir Dar City Administration in Ethiopia. The findings of the study were that employees who perceived that responsiveness, transparency, and accountability existed had high trust in the administration. The key arguments in the resource include the effect of perceived practices of responsiveness, transparency, and accountability on public trust in local government. The measurement of the study makes it more reliable and valid in pointing out the necessity and significance of accountability and transparency in public administration. The resource informs future research in the practices of good governance to restore public trust in governments. It utilizes multiple sources and research to support the thesis on the impact of good governance on public trust. The study is of interest to research on ethical leadership because it details how public trust can be attained or restored in public administration.
Gracia, D. B., & Arino, L. C. (2015). Rebuilding public trust in government administrations through e-government actions. Revista Española de Investigación de Marketing ESIC, 19(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reimke.2014.07.001
This article examines the impact of utilizing e-government to improve public trust in the public administration. It was found that an increase in trust in public administration is positively related to an increase in the perceived quality of e-services in the civil service. To support the thesis, the study utilizes a different sources and data from a region with the least citizen trust in public institutions. The key argument in the resource is that the application of e-government related actions will increase trust in public governance. The study used data collected from Spanish-speaking respondents only, which may hinder its generalization since e-governance may differ across cultures. The resource informs future research on the strategies that can be applied to restore public trust in governments in different cultures. The article is of interest to this research because it introduces the concept of e-governance as a means of restoring trust in public administration.
Haq, S. (2011). Ethics and leadership skills in the public service. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 2792-2796. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.190
This resource explores the concepts of leadership, ethics, and leadership skills in promoting ethics in the public service. The study uses different sources to support the thesis on the facilitation of leadership skills to entrench ethical acts in public administration. The key argument of the resource includes interpersonal, technical, and conceptual skills coupled with social and emotional intelligence can improve ethical decision making, which would, in turn, improve public trust in government agencies. The study found that leadership skills, enhanced ethics in the public service, and emotional and social intelligence help improve trust in public administration. The utilization of different and credible sources gives strength to the article. Further research can include the impact of ethical leadership skills on public trust in government agencies. The resource is useful to this research because it explains the leadership skills that help distinguish between ethical and unethical acts which can promote or decrease trust in public administration.
Hassan, S., Wright, B. E., & Yukl, G. (2014). Does ethical leadership matter in government? Effects on organizational commitment, absenteeism, and willingness to report ethical problems. Public Administration Review, 74(3), 333-343. 10.1111/puar.12216
The article examines the role of ethical leadership in facilitating positive outcomes in government agencies and its relationship with organizational commitment in reporting ethical problems. The article findings include an increase in the willingness to report ethical problems due to ethical leadership. The key argument includes the impact of ethical leadership on reporting ethical problems and increasing organizational commitment, which improves trust in governance. To support the thesis, the article collected data from 161 managers in state agencies, personnel records, and 415 direct reports. The resource is valuable to this research as it provides a perspective on reporting ethical problems in the public sector as a way of improving trust in public administration. The resource used various sources of information and avoided the problem of conflating ethical leadership behavior with procedural justice and supportive leadership. The article, however, informs future research on the role of leadership in improving trust in public administration.
Hassan, S. (2015). The importance of ethical leadership and personal control in promoting improvement-centered voice among government employees. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(3), 697-719. 10.1093/jopart/muu055
This resource explores the impact of ethical leadership on improvement-centered voice among public servants. To support the thesis, the study utilized surveys from 477 workers and 161 managers of a large state agency. The key argument involves the significance of ethical leadership on worker discretion over influence on decisions. The results of the study include a positive relationship among procedural fairness, performance monitoring and superior ratings of worker voice behavior. The resource supports this research with information about the need to voice concerns to improve trust in public administration. The strength of the study lies in the extensive data collected from a vast number of respondents, which increases its credibility. The article can help establish future research on the role of civil servants in facilitating a climate for trust in public administration and governance.
Khan, H. A. (2017). Globalization and the challenges of public administration: Governance, human resources management, leadership, ethics, e-governance and sustainability in the 21st century. Springer.
This resource discusses the challenges of globalization and governance in the public sector. It delves into different issues, of interest to this research is ethics, public trust, openness, and transparency in public leadership and governance. The resource was chosen because it provides an analysis on the public policy issue of ethical leadership and public trust, which are essential for this research. Its strengths include the wealth of different sources of information on the important aspects of public administration and governance in the public sector. The resource informs future research on e-governance and how it can be used to build trust in public administration.
Mozumder, N. A. (2021). Can Ethical Political Leadership Restore Public Trust in Political Leaders? Public Organization Review, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-021-00536-2
The resource examines the role of ethical leadership practices in restoring public trust in political leaders. The findings of the study are that ethical leaders encourage public trust in governance. The article is valuable to this research because it supports discourse on ways of improving public trust in political leadership and governance. The study utilized opinions from 121 leaders from 65 UK local authorities to support the thesis. However, the key argument involves the reasons for the decline in public trust and ways of improving it. The strength of the article lies in the wealth of sources utilized to support the key arguments. It informs future research about the impact of ethical leadership practices on public trust in public governance.
Schmidthuber, L., Ingrams, A., & Hilgers, D. (2021). Government openness and public trust: The mediating role of democratic capacity. Public Administration Review, 81(1), 91-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13298
This article explores the impact of structural openness and evaluation of citizen influence in the political system in the trust in government. The key argument involves the positive effects of citizen’s democratic capacity on openness in governance. The findings of the article indicate that structural openness is directly associated with higher trust. The article is useful to this research due to its contribution to the empowerment of citizens as a means of entrenching trust and openness in public administration. The strength of the resource lies in the ability to utilize multiple sources to improve its credibility. Future research from the article could involve the impact of trust to the citizen-state relationship in different cultures.
Ud Doullah, S., & Uddin, N. (2020). Public trust building through electronic governance: An analysis on electronic services in Bangladesh. Technium Soc. Sci. J., 7, 28-35. https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/509/148
This article explores the extent to which online initiatives are being used to promote public trust in governance, using the case of Bangladesh. The resource hypothesizes that electronic tools, for example, social media, government websites, and digital payment systems can be used to restore public trust. E-governance promotes trust in government institutions and improves the evaluation of government by citizens. The article provides evidence that e-governance initiatives can spur public trust through interactions and promoting participatory mechanisms. The resource concludes that increasing access to government information through social media could help improve public trust in administration and governance. A strength of the resource involves the utilization of multiple sources and the introduction of e-governance as a tool for promoting trust in public service. The resource informs future research on the decline of public trust in government and the use of social media platforms to improve ethical governance.
Wright, B. E., Hassan, S., & Park, J. (2016). Does a public service ethic encourage ethical behaviour? Public service motivation, ethical leadership and the willingness to report ethical problems. Public Administration, 94(3), 647-663. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12248
This resource explores the relationship between public service motivation of workers and ethical behavior by determining how public service motivation predicts the ethical behavior or intention of public service employees. The study uses survey data from 477 employees of a government agency. The key argument is that supervisors with higher public service motivation portray ethical leadership according to workers while employees with higher public service motivation are more likely to report unethical practices in their workplace. One of the strengths of the resource is that it utilizes a wealth of research articles and a large sample of study participants, which give credibility to the findings. However, it utilizes data from a single agency, which limits its generalizability. The resource can be used to inform further research on the factors that influence ethical behavior and what may help strengthen the influence of public service motivation on ethical leadership.
References
Beshi, T. D., & Kaur, R. (2020). Public trust in local government: Explaining the role of good governance practices. Public Organization Review, 20(2), 337-350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-019-00444-6
Gracia, D. B., & Arino, L. C. (2015). Rebuilding public trust in government administrations through e-government actions. Revista Española de Investigación de Marketing ESIC, 19(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reimke.2014.07.001
Haq, S. (2011). Ethics and leadership skills in the public service. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 2792-2796. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.190
Hassan, S., Wright, B. E., & Yukl, G. (2014). Does ethical leadership matter in government? Effects on organizational commitment, absenteeism, and willingness to report ethical problems. Public Administration Review, 74(3), 333-343. 10.1111/puar.12216
Hassan, S. (2015). The importance of ethical leadership and personal control in promoting improvement-centered voice among government employees. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(3), 697-719. 10.1093/jopart/muu055
Khan, H. A. (2017). Globalization and the challenges of public administration: Governance, human resources management, leadership, ethics, e-governance and sustainability in the 21st century. Springer.
Mozumder, N. A. (2021). Can Ethical Political Leadership Restore Public Trust in Political Leaders? Public Organization Review, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-021-00536-2
Schmidthuber, L., Ingrams, A., & Hilgers, D. (2021). Government openness and public trust: The mediating role of democratic capacity. Public Administration Review, 81(1), 91-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13298
Ud Doullah, S., & Uddin, N. (2020). Public trust building through electronic governance: An analysis on electronic services in Bangladesh. Technium Soc. Sci. J., 7, 28-35. https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/509/148
Wright, B. E., Hassan, S., & Park, J. (2016). Does a public service ethic encourage ethical behaviour? Public service motivation, ethical leadership and the willingness to report ethical problems. Public Administration, 94(3), 647-663. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12248
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