1. Attitude
Attitude is a learned/acquired predisposition to behave in a favorable or unfavorable manner against the given object or It is about how people react to different situations/objects hence attitude is reflected through reaction or behavior. It is learnt through the process of socialization. Its quality depends on the nature of socialization.
2. Aptitude
Aptitude deals with the innate ability of humans. It’s about the ability to perform / future potential of humans to perform. Hence, it is about competence, ability or potential to perform. It is
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- Innate or inborn
- Natural quality
- Inherent potential which a human is born
Example: Handwriting speed, efficiency, knowledge & skill.
Since aptitude is an inborn quality, it is difficult to completely transform it. Although via grooming and training, there can be improvement in aptitude.
3. Anonymity
It means being impersonal and serving the government without taking credit & becoming too much personal i.e. ‘Serving behind the curtain’.
4. Affect
It refers to emotions or feelings, likes, dislikes, emotional bonds and emotional intelligence evoked by a particular person, item or event. If people face objects where the affect is high, they would face emotional reactions. Objects which are generally family, friends, relatives, image of the country, self-image, respect and dignity and objects towards which an individual has the strongest likes and dislikes.
5. Accountability
It means answerability of civil servants (administration or government as the case maybe) which is enforced against a set of defined legal standards and values. Hence, accountability is considered as a formal / legal concept as it has defined standards.
6. Actionable accountability
It emphasizes the importance of translating citizen engagement and demands for accountability into tangible actions and consequences within the formal governance system. By integrating social and formal accountability mechanisms, actionable accountability seeks to enhance the effectiveness and enforceability of accountability processes, thereby promoting transparency, integrity, and good governance.
7. Behavior
Behavior is a reflection of attitude. Attitude can’t be observed. It is observed through the behavior ofa person. In general, behavior is a true reflection of attitude simply because one cannot hide true attitude for long as one lives in a social environment. It is also due to the integrity and consistency factor. Although behavior is considered a reflection of attitude, it is behavior which also brings changes in attitude.
A<—>B
Wrong behavior reminds us about the problems in the existing attitude and knowing about the object so that next time- it is changed & there is the right reaction. In fact, humans have a tendency of self-correcting behavior, and it is possible only when attitude is changed.
8. Bureaucratic ethics
It refers to the moral principles and standards that guide the behavior and decision-making of individuals working within bureaucratic organizations. It encompasses values such as integrity, accountability, impartiality, fairness, and adherence to legal and organizational rules and regulations.
9. Bureaucratic attitude
It typically refers to a behavior characterized by excessive adherence to rules, procedures, and hierarchical structures within an organization, rigid adherence to formalities, focus on process over outcome, resistance to change. Bureaucratic attitude is when bureaucracy adheres to rationality, neutrality, impartiality and objectivity.
10. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the disciplined and analytical process of scrutinizing, examining and observing information, ideas or situations with an aim to make reasoned and well-informed judgements.
11. Courage
It is the mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand adversity, danger, or fear, even in the face of challenges or risk. It is a vital component of good character & conduct as it demonstrates resilience, integrity and the willingness to do what is right. It means that the a person should speak his mind, speak truth and act against evil.
12. Constitutional morality
The ideals which guide the relationship between government and the governed are considered as constitutional morality. The ‘shared values’ have following characteristics:
a) Respecting the Constitution
b) Promoting free speech.
c) Obligation of the government and its machinery to act as per Constitution.
d) People contesting for political power and their opposition should have reverence for the Constitution.
13. Capability approach (Amartya Sen)
It is considered as a contemporary philosophy which focuses on humans in terms of freedom and empowerment. It is strongly against functional type of empowerment which is supported largely through programmes and schemes in the name of social justice. Adherence to this philosophy will bring quality of human development, greater freedom and autonomy in life & people living the life of their choice.
14. Classical conditioning
It is a process in which the formation of attitude happens through a conditioning known as repeated occurrence of an event which the child may or may not deliberately pay attention to like when parents consistently discuss certain topics like caste, religion, or negativity, even if a child is in a separate room, they indirectly influence the child. Over time, this exposure may lead the child to develop a negative attitude towards the object introduced by the parents.
15. Cognition
It is knowledge about objects. In fact, attitude is about reaction in favor or against objects and it is knowledge about objects which determine strength of reaction. If people have clear rational or broad knowledge- then they would have appropriate reactions. In fact, better knowledge can help in controlling emotions that is affect and reacting in appropriate manner in a given situation. However, even if people have knowledge- affect may dominate in some situations.
16. Civil servant
Civil servants are special types of public servants with unique roles and functions in the administration. They perform sovereign functions & their conduct is governed by specific conduct rules. E.g. All India Service (Conduct) Rules — Accountability, Neutrality.
17. Compassion
An emotional urge in a civil servant to serve the downtrodden sections of society. Showing an act of positive discrimination. In general, it is about showing respect, care, empathy & emotional support. Compassion involves a sense of empathy. It does not end with pity. It involves sensibilities to understand and even feel the pain of others and motivates one to be truly helpful in overcoming this pain.
18. Courage of conviction
It involves a strong self-belief in one’s actions or decisions. It is the confidence that what one is doing right. It’s about trusting your own judgment / voice/ thinking and having the courage to stand by them even in the absence of external validation or guidance.
It refers to the bravery and determination to uphold one’s beliefs and principles, even in the face of adversity or opposition. It involves a steadfast commitment to one’s values and the willingness to act in accordance with those principles.
19. Conscience
Conscience is a human intellect/ faculty of sense which gives understanding about right & wrong. It’s a moral sense in humans. Humans are not born with the ability to logic, reason & understanding good or bad things rather there is moral development through the process of socialization. Therefore, conscience is also developed through socialization as explained by Kant and Lawrence Kohlberg.
20. Collective conscience of society
It refers to the shared set of values, beliefs, norms, and moral standards that are widely accepted and internalized by members of a community or society. It represents the collective understanding of what is considered right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable within a particular cultural or social context.
21. Categorical Imperative
Immanuel Kant defines it as the inherent moral principle that commands individuals to act in accordance with universally applicable moral laws, regardless of personal desires or circumstances. It stems from the development of human conscience, which evolves through moral reasoning and rationality, ultimately leading to moral autonomy. It is this moral autonomy which is known as categorical imperative by Kant.
22. Corporate governance
It is the way a company is directed or controlled – Sir Adrian Cadbury (Father of corporate governance) or It is about management of a company with transparency and accountability or It is the process of management of a company which is run in the interest of all stakeholders. When a company is run with transparency and accountability in the interest of all stakeholders, it is an act of corporate governance.
What is good governance for administration, corporate governance is for the company or Corporate governance is good governance for the company.
23. Corporate Social Responsibility
It is a concept where businesses integrate social and environmental concerns into their operations and interactions with stakeholders. It goes beyond profit generation emphasizing a company’s commitment to contributing positively to society and minimizing its impact on the environment. It is a practice based on the rationals that businesses/ companies have responsibility towards society since it is due to society that they have registered success and now it is their turn to serve society. It is unacceptable from a just perspective that few people are rich, and they own most of the wealth of the society and rest of the people struggle for their livelihood in day to day life therefore, it is part of the ethics in the business that they contribute to the society in the form of CSR.
24. Crisis of conscience:
It is a state of extreme level of tension, dissonance in mind or emotional turmoil that may happen due to either of the following:
25. Compassionate capitalism
It is a concept propagated by Narayana Murthy which has following characteristics:
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- There should be a minimum gap between the highest and lowest salary in an organization (or else there would be inherently injustice in the organization).
- Capping of highest salary
- Incentives should be given to all not only few
- In case of any economic loss or challenges of efficiency faced by the company, the weakest should not be fired first, rather there should be deduction from the salary of the strongest.
26. Comprehensive National Power (CNP)
It defines the strength of a country by how powerful it is vis-a-vis other countries. Its determinants are defense, technology, economy, human resource, peace, harmony, culture (Soft power) & leadership. A country is not strong merely because of its strong military; rather it must have peace, stability, order, stable government and good quality of human resources.
27. Conflict of interest
It means conflict between personal values and professional values of a civil servant or in professional commitments there is the role of private affairs which may affect impartiality/integrity in decision making. Receiving gifts, Post-retirement jobs, dealing in contracts & assets are the common situations in which conflicts of interest may arise in civil services.
An actual conflict of interest
An actual conflict of interest occurs when an individual or institution has two competing interests, one of which interferes or undermines the ability to fulfill responsibilities.
Potential conflict of interest
This refers to circumstances where it is foreseeable that a conflict may arise in future and steps should be taken now to mitigate that future risk.
Perceived conflict of interest
A perceived or apparent conflict of interest can exist where it could be perceived, or appears, that a public official’s private interests could improperly influence the performance of their duties — whether or not this is in fact the case.
28. Code of ethics
It deals with a set of moral principles. They deal with ‘do’s’ of civil servants. It is the spirit side of the law.
29. Code of Conduct
Civil servants are guided by their conduct rules. The Code of Conduct is a codified set of guidelines guiding the conduct of civil servants. Such guidelines are about what civil servants should do and what not to. They are enforceable especially for civil servants i.e. violation of conduct rules results in disciplinary action. It is represented through a set of laws and rules like Conduct Rules – The All-India Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, The Central Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, The All-India services (Conduct) Rules (Amendment) 2014. It is the letter side of the law.
30. Corruption
Corruption is defined as the misuse of power to give any favor or disfavor, which results in pecuniary loss to the government. The term corruption is derived from ‘corruptus’ —Greek work — ‘to destroy’. So, corruption is the destruction of values. There is destruction of ethics in corruption since corruption has become a habit and ethics have been destroyed.
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