The Ethics and Efficacy of Resignation in Public Administration

Abstract

Given the doctrine of neutral competence, the question of a duty to resign rarely arises for civil servants. Ethical obligations are fulfilled by loyally carrying out the instructions of legitimate superiors. If however, one is persuaded that the public is better served by civil servants who, acting in terms of an agency perspective-their public trust-formulate a principled conception of the public's interest that they believe they have an obligation to promote, even against the wishes of superiors and public alike, the case is different. Civil servants in such a case may feel they owe the public, as Burke told the electors of Bristol, their independent best judgment, not their servile acquiescence in what they believe may harm the public they are sworn to serve. Given the importance of the independence and integrity of civil servants' judgments and the gravity of those judgments, ongoing principled development of the meaning of the public interest-improving our practice as we work—is a high-priority task.

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