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. Subjectmatter
knowledge, attitude and commitment, advocacy, reasoning, problem-solving, self-awareness
and consensus-building skills are the core elements of such competence. Training public servants inoffice
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).