Personal Ethics and Administrative Actions

This article describes personal ethics in the public sector, relates personal ethics to spirituality and religion, and discusses the implications of personal ethics for administrative actions. Drawing on two empirical studies of ethics in the public sector, this article demonstrates that personal beliefs derived from religious convictions often take precedence over official policy when administrators are faced with difficult decisions. Findings counter traditional assumptions about the role of law and policy in directing administrative activities. They cast doubt on the power of bureaucracy to control the behavior of bureaucrats, and suggest that public administrators are clear thinking persons of integrity who live their values while serving their country. The article also shows that religion and spirituality are important to understanding worker performance. It suggests that issues other than administrative actions are affected by personal beliefs, thus opening the door to consider religion, spirituality, and personal ethics in studies of efficiency, performance, and productivity.