Accountability and Ethics
Accountability architecture
Accountability has answerability (explaining) and enforcement (consequences). Types: political (legislature, ministers), administrative (hierarchy, audit), legal (courts), professional (standards bodies), and social (media, civil society). Tools: audit (financial, performance), parliamentary committees (public accounts), ombudsman, right to information, whistleblower protection, asset declarations, and codes of conduct.
Ethics
Learn deontology (duty), utilitarianism (consequences), virtue ethics (character), and ethics of office. Public service values: integrity, impartiality, objectivity, honesty, accountability, transparency, and fairness. Understand conflict of interest, gift and hospitality rules, revolving doors, patronage and nepotism, and corruption (petty, grand, political). Distinguish compliance-based from integrity-based ethics strategies; the best systems combine both.
Traps
- Accountability ≠ responsibility. Responsibility is assigned duty; accountability is answerability for performance.
- Corruption is not only bribery; it includes embezzlement, favouritism, influence peddling, and abuse of discretion.
- Codes alone do not create ethics; enforcement and leadership matter.
- Whistleblowing is not disloyalty when channels and public interest justify it.
Worked example
A procurement officer's relative bids for a contract. The issue is a conflict of interest requiring declaration and recusal, not merely "transparency." A model answer names the rule (declare, recuse), the mechanism (asset and interest register), and the sanction (disciplinary action plus criminal referral if proven).
Public Administration in Bangladesh
Structure and institutions
Bangladesh inherited a colonial and Pakistani administrative legacy. Key features: a parliamentary system with a prime minister as executive head; a central secretariat organised into ministries and divisions; attached departments and subordinate offices; field administration with divisions, districts, upazilas and unions; and a cadre-based civil service recruited through the Bangladesh Civil Service examination under the Public Service Commission. Know the roles of the Cabinet Division, Ministry of Public Administration, Finance Division, and the Comptroller and Auditor General. Local government includes union parishads, upazila parishads, pourashavas and city corporations, with the Upazila Parishad Act framework and debates over fiscal autonomy.
Reform themes
Landmark reform efforts include the Administrative and Services Reforms Commission, public administration reform commissions, pay commissions, and digitalisation drives ("Digital Bangladesh", e-services, a2i). Persistent issues: generalist-specialist tension, promotion and seniority disputes, centralisation, weak local government finance, politicisation of administration, corruption, and capacity gaps in implementation.
Traps
- Do not confuse the Public Service Commission (recruitment) with the Public Administration Ministry (management).
- Field administration is not local government. Divisional and district commissioners represent the central government; elected bodies are local government.
- Upazila parishad is elected but fiscally weak; answers should note both.
Rule of thumb
For Bangladesh reform essays, structure answers as: legacy (colonial/Pakistani), current structure (secretariat-field-local), specific defect (with example), reform attempted, and evaluation. This avoids generic "good governance" filler and shows contextual command.
Comparative and Contemporary Public Administration
Comparative method
Comparative public administration studies administrative systems across countries to explain similarities and differences. Learn comparative frameworks: institutional, cultural (Hofstede's dimensions as a caution), and historical-institutional. Know the Westminster model (majoritarian, neutral career service, ministerial responsibility) versus the continental/Napoleonic model (strong state, legalistic, administrative courts) versus the US model (separation of powers, spoils legacy, strong regulatory agencies).
Contemporary themes
- New public management and its diffusion; new public governance and networks.
- Digital government and algorithmic administration.
- Public value (Moore) and co-production.
- Regional comparisons: East Asian developmental states, African neo-patrimonial tendencies, South Asian colonial legacies.
- International organisations and policy transfer, with the risk of "isomorphic mimicry".
Traps
- Westminster is not one system; Australia, Canada, India and the UK differ in federalism and codification.
- Policy transfer is not copying; context matters and failure follows uncritical borrowing.
- Hofstede is descriptive, not deterministic; avoid using it to stereotype.
- Developmental state is not merely state intervention; it involves embedded autonomy and strategic direction.
Worked example
A country adopts performance budgeting after donor advocacy. A comparative answer asks: does the budget system have the accounting capacity, legislative oversight and incentive structure to use performance information? If not, the reform risks isomorphic mimicry, producing forms without function.
Administrative Reform and Change Management
Reform concepts
Administrative reform is deliberate change in structures, processes, personnel or culture to improve performance. Learn types: structural (mergers, new agencies), procedural (e-government, simplification), personnel (pay, promotion, training), and cultural (ethics, service mindset). Know drivers (fiscal stress, citizen demand, political ideology, technology, donor pressure) and approaches (comprehensive vs incremental, top-down vs participatory).
Change management
Apply Lewin (unfreeze, change, refreeze), Kotter's eight steps, and force-field analysis. Recognise resistance sources: vested interests, uncertainty, loss of status, poor communication, and change fatigue. Understand implementation gaps and the principal-agent problem in reform.
Traps
- Reform ≠ reorganisation. Merging units is structural change, not automatic performance improvement.
- Top-down reform can be fast but fragile; participatory reform is slower but more durable.
- Resistance is information, not merely obstruction; diagnose its source.
- Donor-driven reform may produce form without function.
Worked rule of thumb
For any reform question, apply the 4C checklist: Content (what changes), Capacity (skills, funds, systems), Commitment (political and bureaucratic will), and Communication (stakeholder engagement). A reform fails where any C is missing; name the missing C to earn marks.