Madrid 2012, images from Jayanta Krishna Sharma (upper row) and Rachna Dutt Goswami (lower row); edited for the web by Jeremy Lewis

Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues	Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues	Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues	Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues
Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues	Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues	Madrid 2012, business meeting	Madrid 2012, panel 2, Current Issues

Research Committee 48 on Administrative Culture at the IPSA World Congress, 8-12 July, 2012

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Ethics panel | Business Meeting | Current and Future Issues panel

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The panel themes for this research group for the Madrid Conference 2012 are:

RC 48 Panel 1:
Ethics in Public Administration, including corruption/anti-corruption
    SCHOOL OF PHARMACY / FACULTAD DE FARMACIA - Tutorial 23 E
    Sunday, July 8 - 11:00-12:45

Convenor: Dr. Rosamund Thomas
Chair: Prof. Jeremy Lewis
Co-Chair: Dr. Rosamund Thomas
International Papers:

Dr. Rachna Dutt Goswami [Abstract] Strategies to Combat Corruption in India with Special Reference to Jammu and Kashmir

Dr. Marcia Grimes, Dr. Monika Bauhr  [Abstract] What is Government Transparency? New Measures and Relevance for Promoting Better Government

Papers on India:

Dr. Nittam Chandel [Abstract] Administrative Ethics and Culture of District Officers (Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh, India)

Dr. Vinothan Naidoo [Abstract] Public Sector Anti-Corruption and the Independent Agency Option in South Africa

Dr. OP Sharma [paper not yet uploaded] [Abstract] Corruption and the Lokayukta: A Study of Administrative Machinery to Deal with Corruption in India

Prof. Tigiripalli Krishna Kanth, Mrs. Lalitha Kumari Kadarla [Abstract] Making Good Governance and Corruption Free Administration in India

Discussants: Prof. Carmencita Aguilar and Dr. Rosamund Thomas

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Business Meeting for RC 48 Administrative Culture
all members and prospective members welcome

    SCHOOL OF PHARMACY / FACULTAD DE FARMACIA - Tutorial 23 E
    09:00-10:45 Tuesday, July 10

Possible agenda items include administrative reports on:

new RC48 web site

regional conference in India

membership

future IPSA congresses every two years

new IPSA web site processes

other items to be decided

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RC 48 Panel 2:
Current and Future Issues in Public Administration as they affect administrative culture
Convenor: Dr. Rosamund Thomas
Chair: Dr. Rosamund Thomas
Discussants: Prof. Leonid Smorgunov and Prof. Ivan Kopric
Classroom 17 of the SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION
13:00-14:45,  Tuesday, July 10
Subpanel A: Papers On Transparency:

Dr. Kristina Bentley [Abstract] Democracy, Transparency and Open Government: Silencing Dissent in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Prof. Jeremy Lewis [Abstract] Transparency, FOI and Wikileaks versus US National Security Secrecy: The Obama and Bush Administrations

Subpanel B: Papers on India:

Dr. Ashok Ranjan Basu [Abstract] Corruption in Administration: With special reference to India

Dr. Anupam Sharma [Abstract] Democratic System and the Role of the Preventive Machinery: A Case Study of India

Dr. Surendra Kumar [Abstract] Citizen's Charter in India: Problems and Prospects

Dr. Mohan Kashikar [Abstract] Performance Appraisal in India: Need For Systemic Reforms
 

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Abstracts of Papers
[gathered here for convenience, from IPSA.org] Abstracts for RC 48 Panel 1:
Ethics in Public Administration, including corruption/anti-corruption
Public sector anti-corruption and the independent agency option for South Africa
Dr. Vinothan Naidoo

Corruption is widely recognised as both a legal infraction and an ethical transgression in administrative theory and practice. Indeed the ethical roots of administrative corruption have a longer historical imprint than subsequent attempts to legally codify and explicitly sanction administrative misconduct. The legal problem of corruption reflects a concern that the misuse of official office for personal gain exacts a detrimental and distorting effect on a country’s social and economic development.
In South Africa, the evidence clearly shows that imperfect but nonetheless concrete and progressive steps have been introduced since the country’s 1994 democratic transition to increasingly monitor, investigate, and prosecute corruption in the public sector. The present state of the public sector anti-corruption debate, seventeen years after the country’s democratic transition, appears to have reached a watershed, with some arguing that a major weakness remains the absence of a fully independent and autonomous anti-corruption agency.
This paper will critically review the single powerful agency argument in the context of the post-democracy institutional framework that South Africa has employed to fight public sector corruption. It will consider the feasibility of introducing an independent agency, not simply in symbolic or in default terms, but by drawing on empirical data to understand the spread and character of financial misconduct in the public sector.Administrative Ethics and Culture of District Officers (Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh, India)

Corruption in Administration: Consequences and Cures in South Asian Countries
Dr. Jayanta Krishna Sarmah

Corruption in administration becomes rapid and rampant where the institutions of governance are weak, where regulatory regime and policies of government provide scope for it and where civil society institutions are marginalised or distorted themselves. Corruption is a sign of degrading political, social, economic and legal systems. Intensity of corruption is linked to the capacity of civil liberties, particularly the level of the freedom of press, the ability of individuals to form non-governmental organisations and the standing of dynamic, structured political competition. Inadequate accountability in government functioning induce self-serving rather than public-serving behaviour, where objective rules are ignored and above all legitimacy of the government is questioned.
Corruption is a serious problem in South Asian countries. The picture of pervasive corruption is widespread and loudly articulated concern, the level of which has been exposed by different indexes including the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International. Why corruption is a way of life in some countries and not in other? After looking at the factors and degree of corruption in South Asian countries, this paper argues that in order to control effectively the level of corruption, the causes must first be correctly diagnosed. Proper diagnosis only could lead towards appropriate action. The consequences of corruption can be minimised if government has an effective anticor

Strategies to combat corruption in india with special referance to Jammu and Kashmir
Dr. Rachna Dutt Goswami

India is mentioned amongst the corrupt nations of the world by the Transparency International Corruption Perception index (2010). In last few years lot of misappropriation of public money has taken place. Some of the important cases are 2G spectrum allocation, Common Wealth Games, Adarsh society building construction where lot of public money was siphoned out. Elimination of corruption is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity for India. India being one of the most promising growing economy, still there are habitations which lack electricity, drinking water, health and education facilities. Common man feels frustrated with the corruption in governance and is protesting in many violent and non -violent ways.
In this paper an evaluation of some strategies to control corruption will be discussed. Impact analysis of Legislations like Prevention of Corruption Act, Right to Information Act , Lokpal Bill and Lokayuktas i.e Ombudsman and Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act will be highlighted.
For this study two hundred officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative services will be interviewed through questionnaire.
The study will focus on the impact of various Laws and Legislations as strategies in fighting corruption. It will highlight how better accountability and more transparency can contain corruption and improve public service delivery mechanism.

What is government transparency and is it the solution? New measures and relevance for reshaping power
Dr. Marcia Grimes, Dept of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
and Dr. Monika Bauhr
 

As policymakers and researchers focus increasing attention on the importance of government transparency for accountability and good governance more generally, the demand for greater conceptual clarity and authoritative measures of government transparency has increased. Transparency advocates maintain that greater access to government information is the sine qua non of greater accountability and better government in the long term. As a concept, transparency is, we argue, unobservable through simple empirical indicators. This paper introduces a new set of measures that we argue together capture key components of the construct of transparency: government openness, whistleblower protection and likelihood of exposure. The transparency data, collected through an expert survey carried out by the Quality of Government Institute, currently cover 52 countries with additional countries to be added in subsequent surveys. The paper validates these new measures and then explores how transparency reshapes power and governance in national political settings by examining the dynamic interplay between transparency and societal accountability and effect on corruption and performance in key policy areas such as environmental protection.

Administrative Ethics and Culture of District Officers (Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh, India)
Dr. Nittam Chandel

The present paper seeks to analyze the Administrative Ethics and Culture of the District Officers which is greatly influenced and circumscribed by the dominant political environment. The District Administrator has hardly a little scope to act as a ‘neutral agent' of development. Actually Indian States represent different models of administrative structures involving District Officers. Some of the officers belong to State Civil Services,who are generalists and in many ways imitate and adopt general characteristics of State Administrative Service. The characteristic features of District Officers are drawn or are legacies of development of bureaucratic structures in Indian states. The orientations of District Officers are distorted. The lack of perception and non-clarity are major drawbacks of the District Officers. The attitudes of District Officers in relation to a variety of agents’ i.e. political leaders, fellow colleagues, officers in the hierarchy,elected representatives and common man are different. The behavioral traits take a twist in relation to the mentioned agents. The administrators are ‘convenient’, ‘motivated’ and ‘self-interest protectors' and bend according to situations and requirements. Though,ethical codes are practiced but many loopholes provides avenues for deviations. Professional ethics are given a go by as and when political exigencies demand. Thus, administrative ethics in district administration is not comprehensive and specific.

Corruption and the Lokayukta: A Study of Administrative Machinery to deal with Corruption in India
Dr. OP Sharma

Corruption is the widely discussed topic in India. The problems of corruption are so complex and widespread that they have roots and ramificiations in society as a whole. Though corruption had been always there but the scope and intensity is much greater today. Government of India seems to be aware of rhe existence of corruption and has taken various measures to check its monstrous growth. One of such measure is the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta, the Indian version of Ombudsman, is appointed at the state level to examine complaints of corruption against ministers and the bureaucracy. An attempt is made in the paper to critically examine the functioning of the Lokayukta in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Results of the study show that the efficacy of anti-corruption measures is dependent upon adequacy of the measures as well as on political commitment

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Abstracts for RC 48 Panel 2:
Current and Future Issues in Public Administration as they affect administrative culture

Democracy, Transparency and Open Government: Silencing Dissent in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Dr. Kristina Bentley, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape 7441, South Africa, Africa

The paper explores the development of the right of access to information (ATI) in the South African Constitution and supporting legislation, and the challenges to this right that have begun to emerge in the second decade of democracy. The paper illustrates how the first decade of democracy in South Africa was characterised by a culture of increasing openness and freedom, in contrast with the apartheid era before 1994, and outlines the existing environment for ATI. However, the current administration has reversed many of these gains, most notably by attempting to push through legislation that will scupper the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000 (PAIA). South Africa’s initial commitment to ATI coincided with a global wave of laws and reforms to promote greater openness in governance in the early 2000s. As this wave recedes, new challenges to transparent government, and the political participation that it is intended to promote, are emerging, not least the reassertion of the need for state secrecy in light of security challenges. Both within South Africa and globally, the need to silence internal dissent has motivated a move away from open governance and citizen participation, under the guise of national security. The paper will outline how these developments are unfolding in South Africa, and the prospects for citizen participation in holding the state to account as South African approaches its third decade of democracy.

Performance Appraisal in India : Need For Systemic Reforms
Dr. Mohan Kashikar

This paper explores the performance appraisal system in government in India & suggests some systemic reforms. Government in India is the major employer. Bureaucracy is basically an organization of men & management of men is a gigantic task. Performance of the government is the sum total of the performances of the individuals or the constituents through whom it functions. Review of the working of bureaucracy is crucial today to bring refinement, improve quality & get better results. Performance appraisal helps bureaucrat in knowing his own weaknesses & strengths. The system of performance appraisal in India is a tool of control rather than of development. It is vague, subjective, control-oriented, cumbersome, at times biased & devoid of basic guidelines. Suggestion is- the performance appraisal system should follow two-in-one objective- development of the policies & programs through optimization of performance & potentialities of the officers. Secondly, it should be future-oriented rather than mere control-oriented. There should be proper classification of the bureaucracy as per the level & separate forms should be devised for each category. All forms however should invariably contain some common components, viz.; Record of Critical Incidents (Ephemeral Roll), Self-Assessment Component and Report of Potentialities. There should be clear guidelines for all officers regarding the targets & standards. It should be development-oriented, time-bound & confined to two levels.

Citizen's Charter in India: Problems and Prospects
Dr. Surendra Kumar

Citizen’s Charter is an instrument to operationalise the concept of Good Governance. It makes the administration accountable to the people. An organization issues its charter in which goods and services to be provided are mentioned. If people do not get goods and services as per the charter, they can bring about their grievances against administration and the erring officials can be brought to book. Thus, by the means of citizen’s charter, people can hold administrators accountable and responsive.
The concept of citizen’s charter evolved first in U.K. in 1991 during the tenure of John Major. In India, an NGO viz; “Common Cause” took the initiative to bring about citizen’s charter. On its initiative, since 1996, various organizations and institutions have introduced citizen’s charter in India. However, there exist grey areas also in its implementation. Lofty promises are made in the charter which are not realizable. There is also lack of commitment on the part of officials to introduce citizen’s charter in totality. There is also lack of effective grievance redressal mechanism to redress people’s complaints. These grey areas have to be done away with to make charters more effective.
Thus, the sole aim of the citizen’s charter is to make the administration accountable to the people, to bring about transparency in the administration, to provide RTI to the people, to remove corruption from the public life, and to make the administration people and development-oriented.

Transparency, FOI and Wikileaks versus US National Security Secrecy: The Obama and Bush Administrations
Prof. Jeremy Lewis

Secrecy and publicity are known as "dilemmas of democracy", and although the US was in some ways the second among many countries to adopt transparency, it has always preserved secrecy for its national security. To assess the US operation of official records, we divide the records into civil and national security related. We contrast the US government’s normally secure treatment of national security documents with the openness applied to the records of civil, domestic agencies.
We explore the exception represented by the classified diplomatic and defense data published in 2009-10 by Wikileaks, amid the history of the development of open US public records since 1946.
We evaluate progress on the Obama administration’s early claims to transparency, in national security and in other records.
We compare these outcomes with the administration of G.W. Bush, and apply them to the development of US official information policy across all three branches of government, and to the advanced liberal democracies.
Towards a theory of transparency, we contrast formal (and legal) processes of release of official information with informal processes (Wikileaks being the latest) of the release of public records. We also contrast passive processes (in response to requests) with active processes that are rapidly emerging (publication of data online, and the incipient e-government).
The author also maintains an occasional transparency research log, www.FreedomInfo.us.

Dr. Anupam Sharma, Democratic System and the Role of the Preventive Machinery: A Case Study of India

Democracy is the best form of the government which protects the rights of the citizens and maintains peace and harmony in the society through its preventive machinery. This machinery, due to their traditional culture or past legacy could not bring up required changes as was expected in India after independence. Their functions and role is not completely compatible to the democratic characteristics in India as community policing, need base policing and devoted to the constitutional objectives. In this context the objective of the study is to find out that why police force is not performing its duties successfully in democratic system.
Hypothesis:
• The entire preventive machinery is ready to adjust itself to the new role and responsibilities?
• Impediments if any may be resolved by the state with the active cooperation of the people effectively?

The study has been conducted in different areas of India, and it has been viewed that due to proper training especially psychological, motivational support, strong will power, community policing, proper infrastructure, need based policing, good relationship between public and preventive machinery, proactive policing may be more helpful in prevention of crime and maintaining peace in the globalized society. The findings of the research will help to make more positive and decision making planning in India as well as in other democratic countries.

Dr. Ashok Ranjan Basu, Corruption in Administration: With special reference to India

Corruption is generally defined as the exercise of official powers against public interest or the abuse of public office for private gains. In view of the multitude of approaches and views on corruption it is not easy to agree on an unanimous definition of the term. However, the shorter definition includes “abuse of authority,bribery, favouritism, extortion, fraud, patronage, theft, deceit, to Public sector corruption is a symptom of failed governance.

Prof. Tigiripalli Krishna Kanth, Mrs. Lalitha Kumari Kadarla, Making Good Governance and Corruption Free Administration in India

 

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