What is bureaucratic responsibility and why or why not is it considered to be central to American public administration?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Bureaucratic responsibility is made up of accountability—“faithful obedience to the law, to higher officials’ directions, and to standards of efficiency and economy”—and ethical behavior—“adherence to moral standards and avoidance even of the appearance of unethical actions.” It is central because the aspects of bureaucratic responsibility do not always go together. Ethical behavior might mean going against the dictums of supervisors. The public interest is what we expect public administrators to act within, but it is not always clear what that means. We want our administrators to have the freedom at flexibility to get things done but also to be held accountable to elected officials so they do not act in morally unethical ways. We want a “government of laws, not men” but we rely on men to get things done.