Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): R. Marshall Engelbeck, Lee Edwards. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134). Also available online.

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-109).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-109). Also available in print.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / A Principle-Agent relationship exists between employees of the U.S. Federal Government Executive Branch and the American public, where the employees represent the agent and the American public is the principle. As public servants, whether elected or non-elected, Executive Branch employees are expected to make decisions and spend taxpayer dollars in ways that promote the overall interests of the American public. Public servants regularly encounter situations that would encourage them to place their personal benefit above public benefit. The Executive Branch seeks to minimize these potential conflicts and align the agent's interests with those of the American public through a very detailed and comprehensive ethics program. This thesis sought to assess the effectiveness of the program. Historical development of the program, as well as its current components was explained. A random sample of Executive Branch employees were surveyed to assess their understanding of and compliance with the ethics program. Based on the responses provided in the survey, the researcher concluded, the Executive Branch ethics program is fairly successful in aligning its employees' interests with those of the American public. However, there are areas within the program that could be improved upon, and recommendations specific to these areas are provided at the conclusion of the thesis. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The paper aims to investigate the effects of ¡§Local Government Act¡¨on the ¡§centralized personnel system¡¨ of the government employee ethics unit. Before the promulgation and implementation of the Local Government Act, the laws of local self-government for the local government agencies to follow and observe were ¡§The Taiwan Local Self-Government Guidelines¡¨, ¡§The Self-Government Law for Provinces and Counties¡¨, and ¡§The Municipal Self-Government Law¡¨. In fact, the local self-government implemented by the county and municipal governments only existed in name because the so-called local self-government was still under the control of the Central Government. Before the government employee ethics unit was reorganized in 1992, the government employee ethics officers were put in the government departments of different levels as well as the state-run enterprises in Taiwan, and subordinated to the personnel units of these institutions. They were responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the institutions, investigating the loyalty of the staff members, and so on. After the implementation of Local Government Act, the chiefs of local government agencies elected by the people have been vested much more personnel authorities. They also expect a higher level of autonomy as the self-consciousness of the people is growing high. Along with this reorganization, the government employee ethics officers have turned into the staff members to assist the chiefs of local government agencies. Meanwhile, based on their statutory job duties, these staff members concurrently assume the great responsibilities for well-formed civil service ethics and anti-corruption practices for local government agencies.

The federal government ethics regime is built on the premise that public service values emerge spontaneously from reflection, and in particular that democratic and ethical values are among these a priori values. This thesis is an examination of this premise. It includes as part of this examination an analysis of the modern emergence of an identifiable and bureaucratized ethics practice in the Canadian federal government, starting with a privy-council led initiative in 1995. Three areas of tension engendered by this premise are also explored - empowerment, loyalty and transparency. To further explore the claim about a priori public service values and the practical impact of the discourse on values, the RCMP Inquiry into events at the 1997 APEC meeting in Vancouver is also reviewed. The APEC meeting took place at a time when ethics was becoming central to public administration in Canada but before the formalized code and its supporting regime had been developed. Some issues explored by the inquiry into APEC will be reviewed as a window to how public service values are used in debate and to what extent democratic and ethical values, which are said to exist but had not yet been formally promulgated, were reflected in actions of public servants or drawn upon for guidance. The tensions evident in the ethics regime will be explored with respect to the APEC inquiry.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014. / Ethical conduct displayed by members of the public sector is integral to creating a sustainable democratic government, which upholds the constitutional tenets of accountability, transparency and professional ethicality. Furthermore, a true constitutional democracy emphasises and advocates the notion of service leadership that nurtures public participation and engages with citizens in a positive manner. Ethical conduct in the public sector earns public trust; it is hence a key principle in good governance. Yet, in the years since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the government has been plagued by rampant corruption and maladministration by public officials and politicians in leadership positions. The external control measures passed by government in an attempt to ensure ethicality and accountability within the public sector include codes of ethics, rules of conduct and the enactment of legislation. These are intended to shape the mindset of members of the public sector, with the ultimate aim of an efficient, effective, ethical and responsive public service. The purpose of the current study is to analyse non-compliance with external control measures within the public sector by means of selected case studies and to present the reasons for this occurrence. The three cases selected are: the South African Arms Deal, the corruption trial of Jackie Selebi, and the investigation of Bheki Cele regarding irregularities in the procurement of SAPS assets, the latter two who served as National Commissioners of the South African Police Service but were each dismissed from that post. The reasons for non-compliance with external control measures in the public sector as well as recommendations based on the findings to improve compliance will be undertaken. The three case studies demonstrate the experience and impact of corruption and/or maladministration, which have contributed to the increasing loss of confidence in political leadership in the country as elsewhere in the world. A qualitative methodology of inquiry, including a review of literature covering the theories applied to the case studies will be employed. Owing to the subject nature of the current study, the findings will be validated by an independent source, which has been identified as the Office of the Public Protector.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Corruption in South Africa has become a topical issue, especially in the public sector. Public officials are expected to uphold the public interest, but corrupt officials abuse public office for personal gain. Corruption has many forms and facets and it occurs on both large and petty scales. Despite the scale, corruption has negative consequences, such as the loss of public confidence, the undermining of efficiency in service delivery and the diversion of resources. The reporting of corruption through whistle blowing is important because it alerts the organisation of corrupt activities that have been witnessed. However, even though whistle blowers disclose corrupt activities which are detrimental to the public interest, they often experience retaliation, for example harassment, victimization and threats. Whistle blowers are thus often reluctant to blow the whistle. The South African government has enacted legislation, in particular the Protected Disclosures Act (2000), which protects whistle blowers from retaliation; however, in itself this may not be sufficient to encourage employees to blow the whistle. Organisations therefore need to devise effective whistle blowing mechanisms and create a culture of transparency that encourages employees to blow the whistle In light of the above, this study focuses on employee perceptions of whistle blowing mechanisms within Stellenbosch Municipality as a case study, with the primary objective of ascertaining the importance of whistle blowing in curbing corruption in the public sector. The study also investigates the extent to which employees are well informed on whistle blowing legislation and other mechanisms. Additionally the study focuses on the challenges and the consequences that whistle blowers face when they expose corruption. A literature review was also conducted to explore the conceptualisation of whistle blowing, corruption and anti-corruption strategies. From the literature review, it became evident that there is a need for the effective management and application of whistle blowing mechanisms to effectively curb corruption. The research design used was methodological triangulation; this consisted of a quantitative research method, namely a structured questionnaire, as well as a qualitative research method, namely semi-structured interviews. The different methods were used because they allowed for a more comprehensive approach to the study. Ninety-eight respondents, who are employees of Stellenbosch Municipality, participated in the study by completing the questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that the majority of respondents view the term whistle blowing negatively which might contribute to why individuals are reluctant to blow the whistle. Furthermore, employees agreed unanimously that they lacked confidence in their manager/supervisors to deal with disclosures of corruption. Based on the findings of this study, Stellenbosch Municipality is commended for its efforts in developing a Fraud and Corruption Policy and establishing a Fraud Hotline. However, there should be enhanced protection of whistle blowers at the Municipality in order to encourage employees to blow the whistle on any corruption that they witness in the organisation. The study contributes to anti-corruption research, and in particular whistle blowing mechanisms within the public sector in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Korrupsie in Suid-Afrika is 'n aktuele kwessie, veral in die openbare sektor. Van staatsamptenare word verwag om openbare belang te prioritiseer, maar korrupte amptenare misbruik hul staatsamp vir persoonlike gewin. Korrupsie het baie vorme en fasette en kom voor op groot en klein skaal. Ongeag die skaal het korrupsie negatiewe gevolge, soos die verlies van vertroue deur die publiek, die ondermyning van doeltreffendheid in dienslewering en die misbruik van hulpbronne. Die aanmelding van korrupsie deur die fluitjie te blaas is van groot belang omdat dit organisasies inlig oor korrupte aktiwiteite wat opgemerk word. Selfs al word korrupte aktiwiteite, wat nadelig is vir die openbare belang, aangemeld deur fluitjieblasers, ervaar hulle dikwels vergelding deur die beweerde partye, byvoorbeeld teistering, viktimisering en dreigemente. Fluitjieblasers is dus dikwels huiwerig om die fluitjie te blaas. Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering het wetgewing uitgevaardig, veral die Wet op Openbare Bekendmakings (2000), wat fluitjieblasers teen weerwraak beskerm; hierdie wetgewing alleen mag egter nie voldoende wees om werknemers aan te moedig om die fluitjie te blaas nie. Organisasies moet dus effektiewe fluitjieblaas meganismes ontwikkel en 'n kultuur van deursigtigheid skep wat werknemers sou aanmoedig om die fluitjie te blaas. In die lig van bogenoemde, fokus hierdie studie op werknemer persepsies van fluitjie-blaas binne die Stellenbosch Munisipaliteit as 'n gevallestudie, met die oorhoofse doel om die belangrikheid van fluitjie-blaas as meganisme om korrupsie in die openbare sektor te bekamp, vas te stel. Die studie ondersoek ook tot watter mate werknemers ingelig is oor fluitjieblaas wetgewing en ander meganismes. Daarbenewens fokus die studie op die uitdagings en die gevolge wat fluitjieblasers in die gesig staar wanneer hulle korrupsie ontbloot. 'n Literatuurstudie is ook gedoen ten einde die konseptualisering van fluitjie blaas, korrupsie en anti-korrupsie strategieë te verken. Uit die literatuuroorsig, het dit duidelik geword dat daar 'n behoefte is aan doeltreffende bestuur en toepassing van fluitjie blaas meganismes om korrupsie teen te werk. Metodologiese triangulasie is as navorsingontwerp gebruik; dit bestaan uit 'n kwantitatiewe navorsingsmetode, naamlik 'n gestruktureerde vraelys, sowel as 'n kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetode, naamlik semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude. Die verskillende metodes is toegepas aangesien dit lei tot 'n meer omvattende benadering tot die studie. Agt en negentig persone, in diens van Stellenbosch Munisipaliteit, het aan die studie deelgeneem deur die vraelys te voltooi. Die resultate van die studie dui daarop dat die meerderheid van die respondente die term “fluitjie blaas” as negatief beskou, wat kan bydra tot ‘n huiwering deur indiwidue om wel die fluitjie te blaas. Verder dui die resultate eenvormig daarop dat werknemers nie vertroue het in hul bestuurder / toesighouers om die openbaarmaking van korrupsie te hanteer nie. Gebaseer op die bevindinge van hierdie studie, word die Stellenbosch Munisipaliteit geprys vir sy pogings met die ontwikkeling van 'n bedrog en korrupsie beleid en die vestiging van 'n bedrogblitslyn. Beskerming van fluitjieblasers by die Munisipaliteit moet egter verbeter word om sodoende werknemers aan te moedig om die fluitjie te blaas oor enige korrupsie wat opgemerk word in die organisasie. Die studie dra by tot anti-korrupsie navorsing, en in besonders, fluitjie-blaas meganismes binne die openbare sektor in Suid-Afrika.