Public stewardship and ethical accountability in government budgeting

Importance of Public Stewardship in Budgeting

The importance of public stewardship in budgeting relates to the need to provide careful oversight of the use of taxpayer monies which are by definition scarce. Perhaps even more importantly is the need for American taxpayers to recognize and appreciate the enormous efforts that are needed to identify the highest priority public service projects and allocate the requisite resources that are required to accomplish them. Against this backdrop, it is reasonable to posit that the extent to which public servants are perceived as being judicious stewards of the taxpayer resources with which they have been entrusted will be the extent to which taxpayers are amenable to support their local, state and federal governments. The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature concerning the need and importance of public stewardship in budgeting, as well as salient ethical requirements that leaders should consider for proper public stewardship. In addition, a discussion concerning the consequences of unethical or poor public stewardship drawing on real-world examples is followed by a summary of the research and key findings concerning these issues in the conclusion. Detail the need and importance of public stewardship in budgeting The need and importance of public stewardship in general and with respect to budgeting in particular concerns developing and sustaining the trust of American taxpayers, many of whom are already distrustful of government officials and are highly reluctant to pay their fair share in taxes as a result. In this context, the term “public stewardship” is used to refer to “a state or condition in which a government serves as an active manager and responsible protector of critical state resources” (Pubic stewardship and ethical practices, 2016, para. 3). Consequently, public stewards must be held accountable for their use of taxpayer resources, including most especially the manner in which these funds are allocated through the budgeting process. In this regard, one authority emphasizes that, “Public stewards must be responsible, which is a crucial aspect when dealing with the people\\\\\\\'s money [because] people must be able to trust a public steward, otherwise, leaders cannot lead effectively” (Pubic stewardship and ethical practices, 2016, para. 4). While every jurisdiction in the United States is unique in some way, they all share the need for public servants who place their interests above their own, and who use all of the experience, training, expertise and business acumen to provide for the greatest return on the expenditures of taxpayer monies (Bailey & Feher, 2011). Because the budgeting process is typically an exceptionally challenging enterprise that involves identifying the most important public service projects that are needed as well as how best to provide the requisite funding needed to accomplish them (Shastri & Stout, 2009). Many public sector entities in the United States, though, continue to rely on static budgeting strategies that offer little room for flexibility in responding to unexpected requirements due to natural or manmade disasters. In this regard, Choi and Coffey (2011) emphasize that, “Government responses to shocks, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks and wars have consequences for budgets at the US federal and state levels” (p. 119). Given the complexity of the budgeting process, it is not surprising that there are frequent shortfalls due to downturns in the economy or the prices of goods and services that various states rely upon for the majority of their tax revenues. The severity of these consequences can assume truly enormous dimensions when there are unethical public servants involved in the budgeting process, however, and these issues are discussed further below. Ethical requirements for leaders to consider for proper public stewardship Some of the more important ethical requirements for public service leader to take into account to ensure proper public stewardship include avoiding conflicts of interest and strictly conforming to the competitive-bidding process to ensure the government entity receives the maximum return on its expenditures of taxpayer monies (Pubic stewardship and ethical practices, 2016, para. 4). Other ethical requirements are also shared by those not directly involved in the budgeting process, including attributes such as trustworthiness, honesty and the integrity needed to consistently place the public’s interest above self-interests. Consequences of unethical or poor public stewardship While many Americans continue to place their public servants on a pedestal of virtue, the historical record confirms that unethical public servants can violate the trust the public placed in them in novel ways that defy easy detection, but which have a profound negative consequence of the trust levels of the very people who are providing the funds for these purposes. For example, one authority points out that, “Unethical practices cast a negative light on the entire system and lead people to believe that agencies cannot be trusted with monies” (Pubic stewardship and ethical practices, 2016, para. 5). Besides the loss of the fundamental trust that is needed for effective government operations, unethical or poor public stewardship can also lead to severe economic losses resulting from unnecessary or inappropriate public projects or contracts and the competitive-bidding process may be completely bypassed in the process (Unethical practices in the public sector, 2018).. Conclusion The research was consistent in showing that when people are elected to public office, they are expected to perform their duties in a responsible and reasonable fashion that avoids even the perception of misconduct. The research also showed that when public servants fail to perform their responsibilities in ways that reflect responsible stewardship of scarce public monies, governmental leadership becomes far more difficult at every level due to the loss of trust that goes hand in hand with corruption, kickbacks, shady deals and misappropriations. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that the importance of effective and responsible public stewardship in the budgeting process cannot be overstated, but it is likely only a matter of time before the next high-profile instance of such behaviors are once again headline news.