Bureaucrats, as public servants, must conform to ethical guidelines established by the agencies they work for; their behavior must reflect understanding of the democratic underpinnings of their roles as unelected officials and government representatives. Bureaucratic ethics in a democracy, then, entail using established and personal ethical guidelines, to provide government services based upon respect for civil rights under the constitution. The development of ethical behavior over civil servants have become more ethically sensitive than before in such fields as awareness of anti-discrimination, mobbing, gift-taking, political patronage, transparency and accountability. Thus, the ideal that democratic ideals serve as the template for bureaucratic ethics, while assumed true, is not necessarily carried through in life. Hence, in a democracy, bureaucrats must understand and uphold the democratic principles of the system, and incorporation of these into their code of ethics. This as an idea is frequently violated, demonstrating that bureaucrats either do not understand their role as extensions of the government and of a democratic system, or are indifferent to its ethical standards and willing to infringe upon the rights of the people they serve until held accountable.
Democracy, Governance, Ethics, India
