A model of ethics management in the context of local government modernisation – the case of Lithuanian municipalities

Abstract

This chapter reveals the relevance and novelty of a new approach to the ethics management of local government institutions - municipalities in the context of their modernisation. The ethics of local government representatives become the essential requirement and interest of civil society in the context of New Public Governance theories. At present, there is an increasing significant relationship between the state, local government institutions and civil society. Local governments are particularly oriented towards efficient public service which are not separable from their operation to methods and results, as well as their connections with society. Thus, measures of ethics management in municipalities are usually supplemented by special initiatives of civil society organisations, and representatives of civil society are becoming members of ethics management structures and activities. There emerges a scientific problem - what model of ethics management in municipalities could meet the expectations of civil society and follow the trends of local government modernisation? The aim of this chapter is to represent the model of ethics management in municipalities in the context of local government modernisation. For the purpose of implementation, the following objectives were used: (1) conceptualising the ethics management in public administration organisations; (2) identifying the main ethics management dimensions in the context of local government modernisation; (3) explaining the practice of ethics management that is relevant for Lithuanian municipalities; and (4) representing the empirical model of ethics management in Lithuanian municipalities. The object of this chapter is the model of ethics management, and the subject is the model of ethics management in municipalities.