Critical Analysis of the Role of Ombudsman: Special Reference to India INTRODUCTION “It is not wisdom alone but public confidence in that wisdom which can support an administration” – Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1824 This statement accentuates the eminence of public trust in a system as a test of its administrative efficiency. Any good administrative system has to be responsible and responsive to the public. Unfortunately with the power bestowed on the bureaucrats it happens more than often that advertently or inadvertently they try to manipulate or deceive the common man. Arbitrary, unjust, unfair, improper and selfish exercise of power by public servants who enjoy power, results into advantage to one and disadvantage to …show more content…
So far as corruption is concerned, after completion of his book, “The Decline of Rome Empire” Edward Gibbon, the Great Historian, Writer and Philosopher was asked to reply in one word the reason for the decline Roman Empire, he remarked “Corruption.” Corruption in a civilized society, is described “disease like cancer which if not detected in time is sure to malign the polity of a country leading to disastrous consequences.” Pylee points out: "Corruption at the bureaucratic level operated like a subterranean monster, aiding, abetting and colluding with the political bosses. Service to the public has long given way to careerism with a work culture of 19th century aristocracy dealing with the citizens as subjects.” Burke cautioned, “Among people, generally corrupt, liberty cannot last long". [6] DCM Yardly (1986) defined ‘maladministration as complaints tainted with : (a) nepotism, corruption or bias; (b) failure to observe a sound administrative basis; (c) negligence in carrying out a duty; (d) misuse of discretion; (e) incompetence; (f) loss of documents or papers; (g) tardiness and delay; (h) unjust segregation or discrimination; or (i) any similar matters. Hence Corruption and Mal-administration go hand in hand. While the former defeats the very concept of a civilised society,
Unfortunately, corruption is government is a phenomenon far too prevalent in today’s world. In the movie V for Vendetta, V
There is a plethora of criticisms about the effectiveness of the Bureaucracy. Even during the 19th century, as Wilson writes, the Post Office “was an organization marred by inefficiency and corruption”. With an appointment standard such as the “spoils system”, where individuals or groups are granted high level positions based on political favors alone, corruption is almost a certainty. The political aspect of the Bureaucracy was prevalent in the military for over 100 years, as Wilson states “the size and deployment of the military establishment in this country was governed entirely by decisions made by political leaders on political grounds”. Political favors and factors plague our government, including the Bureaucracy. A by-product of these political favors and corruptions are stagnancy and mediocrity. An example of this, as
In his book, Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies do and why they do it, James Q. Wilson’s main objective is to better define the behavior of governmental bureaucracy, believing traditional organizational and economic theory does not adequately explain their actions. Wilson believes that government agencies are doomed to be perceived as inefficient entities by the public. He gives examples of commonly held perceptions of bureaucracies and reveals how these are mostly misconceptions. He points to the environment of bureaucracy, where rules and procedures, dictate goals, along with context, constraints, values, and norms.
Corruption in Rome did not begin until the Late Republic. Rome could not keep up with its own success and growth. There was a lot of competition within the ladder of offices in Republican Rome which was also a significant source of the destruction of Rome. Only two consuls were elected each year causing intense and violent competition between candidates. The candidates were thirsty for power and would do whatever it took to be at the top. One consul, in particular, is that of Pompey.
The fall of the Roman Empire was an ambiguous process that many historians still ponder, and the components that made up the deterioration of the Empire remain obscure. However, what many historians fail to realize that the decline of the Roman Empire was the epitome of cause and effect. Properly analyzing the history behind the process leads historians to realize that it was a chain of circumstances that began with the political corruption of the Western empire. It was the catalyst for many of the other principal reasons for Rome’s decline. Political corruption was a fundamental factor that led to economic failure and superfluous military spending, all which contributed to the fall of Rome. Document 3, Roman ambassador to the Huns, 449 CE, illustrates how political corruption tore apart
The political corruption happening in the Roman Empire was a main contributing part to its downfall. According to the authors in document 1, very little
Someone who is abusing the power that is given to him or her defines corruption, however, the word in its self is more than a simple idea; it is an intricate network. Since people’s views about ethical and moral behavior affect the way corruption is examined, the word has a slightly different meaning to each person. Additionally, misconduct across various societies is viewed differently due to social and cultural borders. The criminal justice system has had many instances where corruption had affected the outcome of a case and has inserted itself into the legal process.
PA can be seen as a as a dense twist of organizations and branches of government which need to relate to each other in order to serve the public needs of the society. Bureaucracy, as a result, is the internal engine of each public branch of government which coordinate and organize through rules and in a hierarchical way, all the administrators, as to provide an efficient system which is able to satisfy all the public demand of goods and services. However, most of the time it is subject to ridicule and condemnation by the citizens and the whole society for several reasons. Firstly, because of the overcrowded staff which permeate the entire bureaucratic system. This is a crucial problem which many of the governmental organizations are
Corruption can come from many different people. When the same group of people are always in government it becomes a situation where this group of people runs government. And when someone wants to be elected they might do whatever the group of people wants to be in there favor. The Federalist paper number 68 it says “He might otherwise be tempted to sacrifice his duty to his complaisance for those whose favor was necessarily to the duration of his official consequence” (Hamilton). There are also people from foreign countries that want to be the leader of America just for the benefit of their home country. They
In general terms, corruption is the act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle. In politics, corruption is the misuse of public power and image.Whether it is realized or not, no country is wholly free of the disease of corruption, and if it is allowed to develop and become significantly strong, it can obstruct the good processes of governing and deteriorate the fabric of society. It can become a barrier to continual development and make it so that essentially no room remains for justice to succeed. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the destructive force of corruption is clearly exemplified through the abundance of imagery concerning decay, death, disease, sickness, and infection as the play progresses. The first and
Bureaucrat is a dirty word to some people in modern society, so how can a bureaucracy be a good thing? Many Public Administration theorist, argue that bureaucracy is essential to the growth and expansion of the United States. Most of the criticism of the bureaucracy within the government is based on myth versus reality. Federal agencies play a critical and a valuable role within society and are indispensable to the operations of the federal government. Bureaucracy can be simply defined as the system in which decision are made by Public Administrators rather than elected officials (legislator) within the government. However, when the average citizen of just says the single word bureaucracy thoughts and images of evoked over how negative
fairness within any level of government. Therefore, public administrators are seen to uphold integrity within government, be liable to the public and
To become a public administrator, you must have the ability to work with different people from different background, different age groups, and various economy classes. A Public administrator cannot be biased towards one group of people and turn around and be favorable towards the other. As an administrator, you have to be transparent to everybody that you encounter, even people that you will be working with, and people that you are working for. According to the publication, “Ethical Dilemmas in the Public Service,” by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, describes that the ethical issue that government officials face in any organization is nepotism and bias. The reason why this event occurs is that some of the individuals in the public administrative positions are not transparent in the workplace and are also influenced by personal gain.
Political corruption is parasitic; it finds a host, and can almost always find a way to survive. Eventually, people grow dependent on this corruption as a means for income, thus forming a symbiosis between the people who benefit from it, and the elites that regulate it. People sometimes ignore the corruption surrounding them, feeling that as long as the politicians do their jobs well, their ‘extra salary’ can’t hurt (BNS).
In conclusion, administrative discretion has its good points and bad. I do not think that all government power should have the discretion. As the people of the United States, we should take a moral and value poll towards the administrators within our government, or like a genuine lie detector