GUIDANCE OF TURKISH NATIONAL ETHICS LEGISLATION ON CONSTITUTION OF ETHICAL CULTURE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS

KAMU KURUMLARINDA ETİK KÜLTÜRÜN OLUŞTURULMASINDA TÜRK ULUSAL ETİK MEVZUATIN REHBERLİĞİ

Abstract

In an organization participants` level of consciousness about ethical rules and their engegament to these rules are very important for successfully carrying out its activities in accordance with the purpose of its establishment.However, the concept of ethics is often confused with the concept of morality.interchangeably.This complexity of definition also makes it difficult for organizations to define their ethical rules. The existence of ethical rules and the adoption of such rules by public employees are also vital for prevention of unethical behaviors such as corruption and bribery in public administrations operating in order to use public resources effectively and efficiently. The adoption of ethical rules is only possible with strong ethical legislation. This study aims to evaluate guidance degree of Turkish ethical national legislation to employees and examines the aspects that legislation needs to be developed. For this purpose Regulation Regarding to Ethical Code of Conduct for Public Employees was analyzed in the scope of the study. Although the regulation is strong about avoiding behavior that would harm public resources, it is found out that internalization of the rule-based provisions laid out in the scope of the regulation is difficult for employees. It has been determined that the regulation should be developed in a way that embraces whole society more It is important for public employees to internalize certain values in order to be successful in combating bribery and corruption. Ethical values are the most important values that should be internalized by public employees. According to Grundstein-Amado (2001) without effective internalization, a code is a meaningless document that at best can only expect blind obedience to its precepts. An ethical culture settled in public employees is important in terms of protecting employees' honesty and impartiality in the decision-making process. Unethical behavior is one of the most dangerous ills of modern governance, with the potential to damage public trust in government and undermine the foundations of democracy (Beeri et al., 2012). According to Marini (1992) public administrators constantly face the need and difficulty of keeping the authority of their official role separate from inappropriate aspects of their personality and personal circumstances. Grundstein-Amado (2001) assert that the codes of ethics in public service organizations should serve at least three purposes: 1) educate the public about the mission of the organization; 2) foster an ethical climate; and 3) provide guidance for resolving ethical problems. In this respect, the ethical rules should have the power to direct the behavior of the employees and provide strong guidance Today due to the unethical behavior of contractors many public construction works can not be completed or they are not built in accordance with the required quality standards. This study aims to analyze the guidance degree of current ethical national legislation to public employees and examines Regulation Regarding to Ethical Code of Conduct for Public Employees which is the basic document for constitution of ethical culture in public administrations. For this purpose, the provisions of the regulation were analyzed by using the method developed by Robin et al. (1989), and the strengths and weaknesses of the regulation have been revealed. It is expected that the results of the study would constitute a base for the regulation of the ethical rules existing in the public sector. It is also expected that contributions to the private sector will be provided in defining the codes of ethics. Codes of ethics in the public sector play a pivotal role. Their function is to enhance public servants’ ethical conduct and to convey to the public that public officials are genuinely committed to pursuing an honorable public service reflecting the public good (Grundstein-Amado, 2001). A code of ethics has the potential to be an extremely effective tool in ensuring accountability in public sector decision-making (Kinchin, 2007). Kinchin (2007) asserts that a code of ethics:  Must reflect the precepts of democratic accountability and a responsible government  Must be framed in language that the decision maker relates to and set in a familiar context.  Must acknowledge the obstacles that arise in relation to each ethic for the successful internalization of that ethic by the individual Eduard (2009) states that the code of ethics for a public sector institution must be built around some clear objectives, described from the start: 1. promotion of values, of ethical principles; 2. Creating an appropriate ethical climate of the professional activity, in line with the goals and mission of the institution; 3. preventing and resolving ethical conflicts; 4. discouraging unethical practices, punishing deviations from institution`s values. Internalization of ethical codes is an important issue for administrations. Effective internalization is most likely to occur when members of an organization clarify and construct their integrated values systems and when the code is formulated and adopted through a process of democratic participation. If codes are formulated and disseminated through a shared collective process and thus reflect the collective values of organizational members, the likelihood of a successful assimilation of the code’s content is increased (Grundstein-Amado, 2001). Public employees in Turkey are obliged to carry out their activities in accordance with Regulation Regarding to Ethical Code of Conduct for Public Employees. This legislation contains various provisions to prevent unethical behavior. On the other hand these provisions, which should direct the employees to ethical behavior, are scattered among the provisions of the related laws.Due to the fact that the Regulation Regarding to Ethical Code of Conduct for Public Employees includes only provisions related to ethical rules, only this regulation has been

Özet

Bir organizasyonda yer alan katılımcıların etik kurallara bağlılığı ve etik kurallar hakkındaki bilinç düzeyi organizasyonun kuruluş amacına yönelik faaliyetlerini başarılı bir şekilde gerçekleştirebilmesi için oldukça önemlidir. Ancak günümüzde etik kavramı genellikle ahlak kavramıyla karıştırılmaktadır. Çoğu zaman da bu iki kavram birbirleri yerine kullanılmaktadır. Tanımdaki bu karmaşıklık uygulamada da etik kuralların organizasyonlar tarafından tanımlanmasını güçleştirmektedir. Kamu kaynaklarını etkin ve verimli kullanma amacıyla faaliyet gösteren kamu kurumlarında da etik kuralların varlığı ve söz konusu kuralların kamu çalışanları tarafından benimsenmesi yolsuzluk ve rüşvet gibi etik dışı davranışların engellenmesi açısından hayati önem taşımaktadır. Kamu kurumlarında meydana gelen etik dışı davranışlar kurumlara olan güveni önemli ölçüde sarsmaktadır. Etik kuralların çalışanlar tarafından benimsenmesi ise ancak güçlü bir etik mevzuata sahip olmakla mümkündür. Bu çalışma Türkiye`deki etik ulusal mevzuatta yer alan etik kuralların çalışanlara sağladığı rehberlik derecesini ölçmeyi hedef almakta ve mevzuatın geliştirilmesi gereken yönlerini sorgulamaktadır. Bu amaçla çalışma kapsamında kamu çalışanları için temel etik kuralları tanımlayan Kamu Görevlileri Etik Davranış İlkeleri ile Başvuru Usul ve Esasları Hakkında yönetmelik analiz edilmiştir. Yönetmeliğin kamu kaynaklarına zarar verilecek davranışlardan kaçınılması konusundaki rehberlik yönünün güçlü olmasına rağmen, ortaya konulan kural tabanlı hükümlerin yönetmeliğin çalışanlar tarafından içselleştirilmesini güçleştirdiği ve yönetmeliğin eksik yönlerinin toplumu daha fazla kucaklar bir şekilde geliştirilmesi gerektiği tespit edilmiştir