public administration problem

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1 Public Administration Problem Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor’s Name Course Date

2 Public Administration Problem Abstract Government officials have been corrupt for decades, and this problem persists today. The decision-making process can benefit from a better understanding of the most effective approaches. The approach relies heavily on staying true to the organization's stated goals. It's crucial to think about how your decisions will impact the company as a whole. It's important to weigh the pros and cons of each option and get input from others before making any final decisions. Learning to make moral decisions after considering all relevant information is a talent that may be honed. The above informs the paper's goal, which takes the form of an examination of the many approaches currently being taken to combat corruption in public administration in order to identify the most promising strategy. For this reason, many people believe that e- governance and other Internet-based initiatives might help reduce corruption in public life. A literature review strategy has been implemented to attempt to provide evidence for this hypothesis. The findings of this study will have real-world relevance because they will reveal the types of anti-corruption interventions that are most effective. The rest of the article provides context for the problem at hand, a thorough explanation of why it matters, a discussion of potential remedies, and a final suggestion. Introduction Corruption in public administration is a major contributor to the unfairness and inequality that plague today's world. Many different attempts have been made to define this phrase and explain its meaning. It may be thought of as the abuse of public confidence in government officials for personal benefit. Corruption describes instances in which public officials use their positions to promote either their own or the interests of others ( Ionescu, 2016) . Based on these

3 criteria, it is clear that corruption is a form of misbehavior that calls for decisive action. There are many academic studies that examine the issue of corruption and its solutions in public administration. The scientific data shows that many scholars work to discover solutions to the problem of public administration corruption. The findings of this study will have real-world relevance since they will reveal the precise steps that must be taken to counteract corruption in various settings. The rest of the article will provide context for the problem at hand, a thorough explanation of why it matters, a discussion of potential remedies, and a final suggestion. Background of the issue Efforts to combat corruption that fall within the purview of public administration have a long history of succeeding in aligning the professional integrity of public officials with the institution's culture. Because of this, corrupt practices are often frowned upon within the realm of public administration. Corruption is defined as the use of trust in a position of authority for the purpose of gaining personal gain through unethical or dishonest means. Many people see this as a betrayal of the public service's mission and a violation of the public administrator's professional ethic to act in the public's best interest at all times. Officials, whether politicians or civil workers, are considered to be corrupt when they engage in illegal behavior and abuse the public power given to them for the benefit of their own personal interests ( Hanna et al., 2011) . One of the most unethical behaviors, it undermines public faith in government leaders and can be overcome only by cultivating a reputation for honesty and integrity. Taxpayers foot the bill for corrupted officials' biased judgments that benefit their own interests at the expense of the public good. In a government that puts its customers first, the funds that may be used elsewhere are diverted into shady dealings. Corruption results in inefficient policymaking and leadership.

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4 According to Morris (2011), experts have categorized corruption into a variety of subtypes, some of which are more widespread than others. Standard distinguishing factors include the quantity and frequency of the transaction, the official's institutional affiliation, and the nature of the transaction itself. Despite these and other efforts to disentangle corruption's myriad flavors, researchers still face theoretical and methodological hurdles when trying to pin down the precise nature of the connection between various types of corruption, their causes, and their effects. While corruption might have many causes, it is frequently blamed on poorly conceived organizations. Officials' discretionary authority is heightened by the complexity and ambiguity of the contradicting rules and regulations, increasing the danger of arbitrary self- serving judgments ( Paterson et al., 2019) . The ability of a public person to abuse his or her monopolistic and discretionary powers directly correlates to the degree of corruption that exists. Depending on the level of development they have achieved, each of these can be found in various nations. It is argued that monopoly power exists in highly regulated economies, whereas discretionary power predominates in developing and transitional economies. Importance of the issue Taking a look at corruption might be daunting, but we can break it down into manageable chunks by focusing on several levels of government: the local, state, federal, and worldwide. In our culture, local corruption is a major issue since it affects how resources are distributed and how well governments function. Some examples of municipal corruption include taking or offering bribes, favoritism, nepotism, stealing public property, corrupt politics, and clientelism. Corrupt exploitation of public resources for private gain, which is strangely how the World Bank defines corruption, is clearly shared by all of these forms of corruption. Despite the fact that corruption at any level has several components involved, pervasive incentives, a lack of public

5 information and openness, and a lack of accountability are frequent reasons a public power may pursue private profit. However, the scenario in the United States shows that even wealthy countries don't feel safe from the issue. The number of confirmed incidents of corruption in the United States during a 40-year period is shown in Figure 2 by Cordis and Milyo (2016). The number shows that corruption in the United States is on the rise, despite a notable decline in the 1990s. This statistic shows the total number of reports of corruption to various authorities. Although the discrepancy in findings is intriguing, exploring its origins is beyond the scope of this study. Figures 1 Figure 2

6 Discussion of possible solutions Corruption is improper action, hence those who engage in it should be held accountable. Disciplinary rules can be helpful in avoiding corruption if they provide suitable consequences. These laws and policies outline the repercussions that should be felt by corrupt public servants. The threat of punishment is used as proof that these measures deter people from corrupt behavior ( Meyer-Sahling & Mikkelsen, 2022) . Numerous scientific research, however, show that discipline rules may not be enough to adequately handle the issue at hand. This is the case because the incentives to engage in corrupt behavior outweigh the risks. Researchers draw the conclusion that a single application of this treatment will not provide any significant results. Although they come at the problem from a different angle, codes of ethics are also documents that help foster an ethical and effective work environment. Rules of ethics, in contrast to disciplinary rules, detail the ideals and conduct expected of employees. Official morale may be boosted with the use of these publications by emphasizing motivation and ethical standards. In other words, the presence of codes of ethics serves to remind public officials of the moral reprehensibility of corruption, with the result that such misconduct is less likely to occur. However, it's quite doubtful that this change will have any noticeable effects. This suggests that

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7 only stressing morals is not enough to prevent people from engaging in corrupt actions. According to Williams-Elegbe (2018), tackling systemic corruption in public procurement in poor nations is a complicated, multi-faceted issue that necessitates multi-level methods, which account for the economic, social, cultural, and political character of this corruption. More problems have arisen for emerging nations since the principal-agent approach hasn't effectively addressed systemic corruption. Because the officials and politicians who are supposed to police these frameworks are themselves a part of the problem, conventional solutions, such as better enforcement, less discretion, and more accountability procedures, may not be very effective. In order to effectively combat corruption, it may be important to discuss the many responsibilities that public officials have. It's shorthand for the need that conflicts of interest be kept to a minimum. These situations arise when a public official is placed in a position from which they can gain financially. This means that public officials should be prohibited from engaging in any activity that might be construed as a conflict of interest. Because of this, many laws prohibit public officials from engaging in certain activities, such as owning businesses, accepting gifts, or receiving lucrative government contracts ( Meyer-Sahling & Mikkelsen, 2022) . Because public officials may get around these restrictions by going via third parties, their effectiveness is minimal. Furthermore, financial transparency laws are another option. This policy mandates that public employees reveal their income, assets, and financial interests in an effort to avoid or detect any private benefit. The argument behind this position is that if people are unable to trace their wealth to dishonest means, they will avoid doing so. It would be remiss of me not to point out that this fix might have far-reaching advantages. It has to do with the reality that there are always methods to circumvent the rules that are being considered. The wrongs that occur inside our society are never beyond our ability to right. Our civilization is

8 always evolving, and with it comes the necessity of adapting to new technological developments. While ICT-enabled data accessibility has been shown to improve transparency and cut down on corruption, the positive effects of ICT on these two criteria are moderated by macroeconomic and local sociocultural factors (Ionescu, 2016). Because of the link between poverty and corruption, it is clear that the use of ICTs to reduce corruption can lead to greater economic freedom in those regions. If a corrupt official were to release their financial statement, and it had no red flags, it would be an ordinary instance. This is because members of this public official's family own expensive toys. Corruption in public administration is pervasive, and this data shows that the aforementioned steps aren't enough to curb the problem. E-government is another approach that might address the problem at hand. This phrase indicates that government employees make use of ICTs to handle day-to-day operations ( Basyal et al., 2018) . It should come as no surprise that e-government is easily accessible in the present day, given the nearly infinite potential of the Internet. Effectiveness, efficiency, and quality in government work are all enhanced by the transition to e-government. That's why this approach offers promise for combating corruption in government. There are several case studies that show how e-government may help combat public corruption. The first tangible outcome of government-wide e-initiatives is a platform for requesting services digitally. This removes the potential for corruption by ensuring that public officials do not interact directly with applicants. Second, e-government has the potential to radically alter the ways in which procurement is handled. It has to do with establishing an electronic procurement system for checking the legitimacy of government officials' acts in this area. Third, fighting corruption requires an open government, which is created through e-government projects. This is due to the fact that this phenomena reveals internal government processes such as decision-making, policy

9 implementation, and evaluative evaluation. This data shows that e-government attempts to eradicate public corruption by dealing with its many forms. According to the findings of a study by Abu-Shanab (2013) , e-government and social media can further improve transparency by taking measures such as creating a transparency readiness index, evaluating current systems for scalability, reusing existing tools instead of developing new ones, and funding collaborative pilot projects. In a study of 75 European websites, researchers found that governments' use of social media and ICTs increased transparency but did not increase e-participation. This indicates that governments are missing opportunities to have productive two-way conversations with their constituents. Recommendation for the solution Corruption is a major issue nowadays because it permeates so many parts of society. As a result, those in authoritative positions may engage in wrongdoing or make poor choices for their own gain. Reduced private investment, ineffective administration, economic difficulties, social unrest, and similar outcomes are all possible results of corruption. That's why picking the right way out of this jam is so important. The data presented above suggests that electronic governance might be a viable strategy for combating public sector graft. The first reason is that the solutions provided have been shown to work in a wide range of scientific studies. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that this approach takes into account different perspectives, which can lead to more beneficial results. Despite these facts, e-government is not a foolproof strategy for combating or even significantly reducing corruption ( Park & Kim, 2020) . There is research that contradicts the idea that this approach can help eliminate corruption. The fact that there are positive outcomes associated with e-government disproves such claims. This term alludes to the idea that an advanced and well-structured society is a key condition for

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10 achieving the greatest possible success in the use of e-government in the fight against corruption. In conclusion, when society is ready for this advancement, e-government can be adequate to eradicate corruption from public administration. Conclusion Fighting corruption in public administration may seem like a hopeless cause with no end in sight, yet it cannot be disregarded. It's too complicated to ignore, it's become too big to ignore, and it covers too much ground to ignore. Only by maintaining a consistent front can we hope to make any headway in our age-old struggle against corruption. Human mistake, human greed, and human compassion all contribute to the public sector corruption that we see today, but so do the people who are working to put an end to it. The process of reducing corruption in public administration will succeed or fail based on the level of discussion given to the issue and the strategies proposed to combat it. Discussion is the key to overcoming any problem and finding lasting solutions.

11 References Abu-Shanab, E. A. (2013). The relationship between transparency and e-government: An empirical support. Electronic government and electronic participation-joint proceedings of ongoing research of IFIP EGOV and IFIP ePart 2021 . Basyal, D. K., Poudyal, N., & Seo, J. W. (2018). Does E-government reduce corruption? Evidence from a heterogeneous panel data model. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy . Cordis, A. S., & Milyo, J. (2016). Measuring public corruption in the United States: Evidence from administrative records of federal prosecutions. Public Integrity , 18 (2), 127-148. Hanna, R., Bishop, S., Nadel, S., Scheffler, G., & Durlacher, K. (2011). The effectiveness of anti- corruption policy. EPPI Centre Report , 3 (1). Ionescu, L. (2016). E-government and social media as effective tools in controlling corruption in public administration. Economics, Management, and Financial Markets , 11 (1), 66-72. Meyer-Sahling, J. H., & Mikkelsen, K. S. (2022). Codes of ethics, disciplinary codes, and the effectiveness of anti-corruption frameworks: Evidence from a survey of civil servants in Poland. Review of Public Personnel Administration , 42 (1), 142-164. Morris, S. D. (2011). Forms of corruption. CESifo DICE report , 9 (2), 10-14. Park, C. H., & Kim, K. (2020). E-government as an anti-corruption tool: Panel data analysis across countries. International Review of Administrative Sciences , 86 (4), 691-707. Paterson, A. S., Changwony, F., & Miller, P. B. (2019). Accounting control, governance and anti- corruption initiatives in public sector organisations. The British Accounting Review , 51 (5), 100844.

12 Williams-Elegbe, S. (2018). Systemic corruption and public procurement in developing countries: are there any solutions?. Journal of Public Procurement .

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