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AN ETHICAL AND MORAL ASPECT OF DECISION MAKING August 19,

2010
Posted by rausias in Articles, Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Tags: About Ethics, Civil Services Aptitude Test, CSAT, CSAT 2011, Ethical & Moral Aspects of Decision
Making, Ethical Approach
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_________________________________________________________________________________

CIVIL SERVICES APTITUDE TEST

AN ETHICAL AND MORAL ASPECT OF DECISION MAKING

By V.P. Gupta, Director

Rau’s IAS Study Circle

__________________________________________________________________________________

In the September, 2010 Issue of Competiton Success Review

It is widely acknowledged that the All India Services and other higher Central Services have collectively

contributed positively to the stability and predictability to the system of governance in the country.

These civil services have networked well within themselves and have strengthened the fabric of our

country’s unity and integrity. In the first few decades, after independence, they were seen as a steel

frame, riveting the country together, pushing the national agenda and were generally considered as an

essential component of the basic institutional structure of the country. At the policy-making level, the

services have assisted in the development of architecture of a welfare-oriented and progressive

system. The Civil Services in India have also developed a strong service ethos, which is based on the

democratic and secular values of the country.

But over the period of time, this face of Indian Civil Services has eroded considerably. With the

strengthening of the democratic decentralization, the aspiration of the people has grown, while Civil

Services have tended to show a mind-set which is not that of a service provider. One aspect of this

mind-set is the lack of accessibility to the ordinary citizens, who approach them at the cutting edge

level for the redressal of their grievances and difficulties. A second facet of this mind-set is the

perceived arbitrariness and non-transparency of decision-making. The third one is the perception of

absence of courteous and humane behavior. Instead of acting as reliable custodians of the country’s
constitution and laws in the matter of rendering equitable, fair and efficient services to the people of

the country, they are now perceived to be pre-occupied with their own survival with vested interests.

This has generated perceptions of the lack of objectivity and propriety in decision making in

bureaucracy.

To weed out the above weaknesses of the Civil Services, the Government is taking remedial steps,

both at the stage of initial recruitment to the Civil Services, as well as, in post recruitment phase. It is

possible to find and select candidates who combine intellectual competence with a strong ethical value

system and a positive public service orientation. Taking a step in this direction, the Government will

introduce a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) to recruit Civil Servants in the forthcoming examination,

which will be held in the month of May, 2011. In CSAT, one of the aspects is to test the candidate’s

“aptitude for civil services” and also his/her “ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making”.

Now, I will discuss what all “ethical and moral decision making” are about. The very first question is

‘what is ethics?’ Simply stated, ethics refer to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings

ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves as friends, parents, children,

citizens, business people, teachers, professionals, civil servants and so on.

Ethics is not the same as feelings. Feelings provide important information for our ethical choices.

Some people have a highly developed habit that makes them feel uncomfortable or uneasy when they

do something wrong, but many feel good even though they are doing something wrong. Often our

feelings will tell us it is uncomfortable to do the right things if it is hard.

Ethics is not a religion, either. Though many people are not religious, but ethics apply to everyone.

Most religions do advocate high ethical standards, but sometimes they do not address all types of

problems that we face.

Ethics is not just following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but

law can, sometimes, deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt, as some

totalitarian regimes have made it. Law can be a function of power alone and designed to serve the

interests of narrow groups. Law may have a difficult time designing or enforcing standards in some

important areas and may be slow to address new problems.

Ethics do not mean following culturally accepted norms. Some cultures are quite ethical, but others

become corrupt or blind to certain ethical concerns. The saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans

do” is not of a satisfactory ethical standard.

Ethics is not just science, as well. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us

make better ethical choices. But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do. Science may
 provide an explanation for what humans are like, but ethics provide reasons for how humans ought to

act. Just because something is scientifically or technologically possible, it may not be ethical to do it.

If our ethics are not based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, what are they

based on? Many philosophers and ethicists have helped us answer this critical question. They have

suggested at least five different sources of ethical standards we should use.

1. THE UTILITARIAN APPROACH: Some ethicists emphasize that the ethical action is the one that
provides the maximum goodness, or does the least harm, or, to put it another way, produces the
greatest balance of good over harm. The ethical corporate action, then, is the one that produces the
greatest good and does the least harm for all who are affected customers, employees, shareholders,
the community and the environment. Ethical warfare balances the good achieved in ending terrorism
with the harm done to all parties through death, injuries and destruction. The utilitarian approach
deals with consequences, it tries both to increase the good done and to reduce the harm done.
2. THE RIGHTS APPROACH : Other philosophers and ethicists suggest that the ethical action is the one
that protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. This approach starts from the belief that
humans have dignity based on their human nature, per se, or on their ability to choose freely what
they do with their lives. On the basis of such dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends and not
merely as means to other ends. The list of moral rights, including the right to make one’s own choices
about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy and so on,
is widely debated. Some now argue that non-humans have rights, too. Also, it is often said that rights
imply duties, in particular, the duty to respect others’ rights.
3. THE FAIRNESS OR JUSTICE APPROACH : Aristotle and other Greek philosophers have contributed
to the idea that all equals should be treated equally. Today we use this idea to say that ethical actions
treat all human beings equally or if unequally, then fairly based on some standard that is defensible.
We pay people more based on their harder work or the greater amount that they contribute to an
organization and say that it is fair. However, many ask whether the disparity is based on a defensible
standard or whether it is the result of an imbalance of power and hence it is unfair.
4. THE COMMON GOOD APPROACH : The Greek philosophers have also contributed the notion that
life in community is a good in itself and our actions should contribute to that life. This approach
suggests that the interlocking relationships of society are the basis of ethical reasoning and that
respect and compassion for all others, especially the vulnerable, are requirements of such reasoning.
This approach also calls for attention to the common conditions that are important to the welfare of
everyone. This may be a system of law, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public
education system, or even public recreational areas.
5. THE VIRTUE APPROACH : A very ancient approach to ethics is that ethical actions ought to be
consistent with certain ideal virtues, that provide for the full development of our humanity. These
virtues are dispositions and habits that enable us to act according to the highest potential of our
character and on behalf of values, like truth and duty. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity,
tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control and prudence are all examples of virtue.

Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method

for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that should impact our

choice of a course of action. Having a method for ethical decision making is absolutely essential.

When practiced regularly, the method becomes so familiar that we work through it automatically

without consulting the specific aspects.

The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussions and

dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by careful exploration of the problem, aided by the

insights and different perspectives of others, we can make good ethical choices in such situations.
 In my opinion, if the future civil servants are selected by UPSC, using ethical and moral aspects of

decision making as a tool, then we can have candidates with positive value systems and commitment

to public service, character, integrity, honesty, accountability, ability to resist temptation and a spirit

of sacrifice and patriotism. They will also have analytical and synthesizing quality of mind, wisdom

and ability to marshal and apply relevant knowledge. The profile of such civil servants should be

defined in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. They should have a “can do” attitude,

problem-solving and analytical skills.

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Aspirants for the civil services will face a different pattern of examination from next year as the
government has approved a proposal to introduce an aptitude test in place of the existing
preliminary examination to shortlist candidates for the main exam. Accordingly, the candidates
will have to appear in two objective-type papers having special emphasis on testing their
“aptitude for civil services” as well as on “ethical and moral dimension of decision-making”
under a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Both these papers — having equal weightage — will be common to all candidates in place of the
one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice)
under the existing system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.
As of now, the change will be effective only for the first stage of the Civil Services Examination
(CSE) from 2011 onwards. The second and third stages — CS (Main) Examination and
interview respectively — may remain the same till a committee of experts goes into various
aspects of the entire system and submits its report.
Confirming the change for the first stage of CSE, minister of state for personnel Prithviraj
Chavan told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved
the proposal for introduction of CSAT in place of the existing CS (Preliminary) Examination. In
his written reply, he said: “CSAT is expected to come into effect from CSE, 2011.” The proposal
to this effect was sent to the PMO last year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
which conducts CSE every year to select candidates for elite all-India services, including IAS,
IPS, IFS, IRS and others Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ central jobs.
Officials familiar with the proposal which has got the PM’s nod explained that the changes were
suggested by various committees, including the second Administrative Reforms Commission, in
their reports submitted over the years. Most of the panels had advocated laying greater emphasis
on the “aptitude” of candidates than their knowledge of a subject, arguing that specialists or
experts in any particular subject may not necessarily be good civil servants. Referring to
introduction of CSAT, an official said: “The new system will also provide a level-playing field
and equity, since all candidates will have to attempt common papers unlike the current format
which provides for only one common paper.”
Though a scaling system is currently used in the preliminary examination in order to ensure that
no candidate who has opted for any particular optional paper gets undue advantage because of
varying degree of difficulty of any paper or inherent scorability, the government has received a
number of complaints objecting to the method on one ground or the other. One related matter has
even been pending in Supreme Court for long.
Lets’ start a HOT Discussion on CSAT ! Click Here

TESTING SKILLS
Candidates to appear for two objective papers having emphasis on aptitude and ethical and moral
dimension of decision-making
Both the papers to have equal weightage
Change to be effective only for the first stage of the CSE from 2011

Also see:
• UPSC Replaces Civil Services Prelim Exam with CSAT
• UPSC Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) from 2011
• CSAT Syllabus