This could also be dangerous, as it could mean that people with better political connections, but little real knowledge could be making life-altering decisions about the drugs Americans use, the food they consume, and detailed foreign policy decisions that require sensitive knowledge about small nations abroad. Still, at minimum, bureaucrats must understand that they are, in fact, policymakers, and develop a system of ethics to deal with the demands their duties require, even if they do bring specialized knowledge to their work. This idea of the essential nature of ethics is, granted, not new or radical, but it is a paradigmatic deviation from the morally neutral model of bureaucratic conduct favored before. (7). Although systems of ethics are often viewed in a derisive fashion as mere formalities it is important that bureaucratic ethics have teeth and muscle behind them, to foster a sense of public trust. The hostile attitude of bureaucrats as living red tape may derive from their extreme unresponsiveness to the world outside of their bureaucratic territory, and their arrogance regarding public sentiment.

Critique

The author seems to make a valid point when he notes that bureaucratic principles exigencies must be defined. In other words, there must be some universal principles which bureaucrats are supposed to serve, and a notion of a greater public good to which bureaucrats must be responsible. Anyone who has ever dealt with a bureaucracy has been confronted with a civil servant who seems to value procedures more than people. A public servant's duty is clear -- he or she is supposed to serve the public, and an official who does not will fail to get reelected. However, in the current system, it is all too easy for someone who is an efficient...

Bureaucrats are no different. In light of these ethical concerns, bureaucrats must be responsive to public concerns, even while they must not be manipulated by the public and elected political officials. While some might say that resisting improper political influences requires autonomy, the nature of public service requires a greater degree of flexibility than other professions that must develop autonomous ethical systems to be functional.
For example, a lawyer must put his or her client's interests above personal morality and a doctor cannot place his or he responsibility to save the life of a patient above the will of the majority who might feel that someone who has committed a crime does not deserve to live (13). The law may be supreme, but there must be a balance between the letter of the law and the needs of the public in the context of democratic government. A good bureaucrat must know when to be a good whistle-blower when he or she sees ethical violations taking place, as well as how to make decisions that are not based upon narrow partisan grounds. A good bureaucrat is the best of both worlds -- human enough to care about the individuals he or she serves, yet autonomous enough not to place the interests of politicians above empirical evidence.