Developing the ‘ethical competence’ of public officials - a capacity-building approach

Abstract

Traditional notion of 3E (economy, efficiency and effectiveness) in public administration is transformed into 4E adding the ethical aspect of public servants activities. Author argues that the professionalism in contemporary public service is inevitably associated with ethical competence. Subject matter knowledge, attitude and commitment, advocacy, reasoning, problem-solving, self-awareness and consensus-building skills are the core elements of such competence. Training public servants in office a video based training methodology may be effective tool reaching the desired results. Application of such training method is described in the paper analyzing the experience of the transitional societies (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria).