Reforming Public Administration: The Codes of Ethics in City Councils

In its commitment to enhance the quality and legitimacy of public administration, the Catalan government has driven the introduction of Codes of Ethics in City Councils. Turning to Ethics in order to reform public administration is more than appropriate, since the integrity of public institutions requires a certain institutional culture, which has to be fostered rather than legally enforced. Codes of Ethics are expected to contribute to that end, by sensitizing and giving orientation about the way in which public servants should develop their tasks within such local government’s institutions. However, to be effective tools for the promotion of institutional quality, their adoption in City Councils must go together with a proper comprehension of the Ethical Codes’ sense, function and limits, as well as with the introduction of ethics at the institutional level. This paper focuses on reflecting upon these issues, with the aim of both contributing to disclose the potential of Ethical Codes for the quality of City Councils and also providing some conceptual tools for enabling a genuine reform of public institutions. This will ultimately consist in turning public institutions into “thinking” organisms, able to ground all their decisions and actions in line with certain values and goals oriented at citizens’ care.