This insightful book explores the use and application of ethics in contemporary governance and suggests necessary reforms. Following an interdisciplinary approach involving the fields of political science, law, economics, sociology, management, and philosophy, this book analyses their applicability and usefulness in everyday practices in governance, covering its five cardinal virtues - prudence, transparency, discourse, justice, and accountability. Highlighting ethical challenges in aspects of status recognition, oppression, empowerment, social care, public financing, environment protection, and others in today's interconnected world, it delves into the dynamics of administrative power in democracies and showcases how the misuse of power can be controlled through a discourse of ethics in law and governance.
The book will be useful to the students, researchers, and teachers of public administration, philosophy, political science, corporate ethics, governance, and other related social sciences disciplines. The book will also be an indispensable companion to social activists, advocacy groups, journalists, civil society institutions, and public service training institutions.
Amitabh Rajan is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of Maharashtra cadre, who, during the past four decades, has led large organisations (namely, institutions of foreign trade, financial services, power sector regulation, public investment, and internal security and vigilance). He was the Home Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra for three years and district magistrate for five years and served at the highest policy levels in the union ministries of finance, personnel, and social justice for several years. He was also chairman and managing director of a national development finance corporation for five years and an independent director on the Board of the State Trading Corporation for three years. Besides being the chairman of the Reserve Bank of India Services Board, Rajan is also a member of the State Bank of India's independent committee on stressed assets. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Government of India Award for Excellence in the Achievement of MOU Targets from the president of India (2003), Indian Institute of Public Administration Award for Best Article in the Indian Journal of Public Administration from the vice-president of India (2018), SCOPE Meritorious Award for Best Managed Public Sector Enterprise from the prime minister of India (2008), and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Award for Excellence in financial reporting from the governor of Jammu and Kashmir (2005). He received his PhD in sociological jurisprudence, which was published as a book, and has taught at two central universities. He has also authored seminal articles on the jurisprudence of children's rights and on the evolution of information rights jurisprudence, published simultaneously in the Indian Journal of Public Administration and the All-India Reporter. Other publications cover topics relating to regulation theory, post-2008 financial technology, institutional dynamics of governance reform, institutional politics of anti-corruption, and critique of the neoliberal public management approach.
Rajan has represented India in various international venues, including at the Ministerial Conference of the Paris Pact, where he led the Indian delegation in the absence of the union finance minister. He also led the Indian delegation at the SAARC Technical Committees in Pakistan and Bangladesh. He has held memberships in the Council of Administration, International Institute of Administrative Sciences, Brussels, and the Governing Council of the Asian Group for Public Administration, Beijing. He currently holds the position of the president of the International Chamber of Professional Education and Industry.
Rajan is now settled in Delhi and occupies himself with intellectual pursuits in the exploration of the ongoing paradigm shifts in finance, technology, and society. He has authored several research papers and is frequently invited to give talks on these topics. He also serves on various advisory boards, editorial boards, research councils, and governing councils.
