Ethics in the public service. Current issues and practice

OECD countries are concerned about declining confidence in government. This report examines how nine OECD countries namely: Australia, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States, are dealing with the management of ethics and conduct in the public service. It starts by analysing the forces which have an impact on ethics and conduct, highlighting those which are driven by changing styles of public management. It then describes the tools and processes used to regulate undesirable conduct and to provide incentives for good conduct, defined as the "ethics infrastructure". It summarises recent ethics-related initiatives in the nine participating countries and suggests trends and differences in approaches and strategies. It concludes with a discussion on the potential tensions between old style public administration and new-style public management, which have implications for the management of ethics and conduct.