ABSTRACT
Administrative ethics is important for a number of reasons, but most issues of public service ethics are derived from the basic question of bureaucratic discretion. Even in the most clearly defined and legalistic administrative systems the individual administrator is granted a great deal of latitude for making decisions on his or her own. Part of the democratization of bureaucratic control is that there are relatively direct ways for the public to monitor poorly performing organizations and individuals within the public sector. One of the more pervasive of these ideas has been that of the citizens’ charter, or perhaps more appropriately the consumers’ charter. For individuals raised and trained in the merit system tradition, there is an almost visceral reaction against the increased use of patronage appointments. Although almost certainly more benign from a normative view, the use of direct democracy as a form of accountability may also create several problems for public programmes.
