Lithuanian Public Sector Codes of Ethics: Possibilities for Improvement

Abstract

Public distrust of political institutions as well as civil service itself is still dominantin Lithuanian society. The paper seeks to reveal the image of civil servants and civilservice itself which undoubtedly is related with public trust. The paper is based on theanalysis of empirical quantitative data and content analysis. Comparative analysis ofpublic opinion surveys conducted in 2003 and 2008 indicate that public approachtowards civil service is changing very slightly and sceptical attitudes are the leadingones. The content analysis of selected newspapers and online internet news reveals thatcritical information about civil service is more frequent than a positive one. It might beassumed that the above mentioned issues have negative influence on civil service imageand possibly imply sceptical public attitudes towards civil service.