Social Environment

5.4 Social Environment

Public administration is a sub-system of the political system which itself is
a part of the larger whole called the social system. Therefore the societal culture
or societal environment has powerful impact on public administration. Put
differently, administration cannot be plucked out from the tissue of culture in
which it is embedded as a member of the wide societal system. A bureaucrat

reflects the spirit and ethos of that society, and his actions are bound be the
manifestation of his cultural moorings.
In present day India, corruption has found an acceptance in the social
psyche and behaviour. Social evils like bribery, nepotism and favouritism have
come to be accepted in the society. People often approach someone known to
them for favours which they know are not legally due to them. Jumping the traffic
lights or a queue or getting the benefits not due to one has become part of social
ethos. A person who has acquired wealth through unfair means is often accorded
the same, if not higher, status in Indian society as that given to persons of
excellence.
Whatever the people may say in coffee houses or in seminars, they show
awe and respect to the corrupt. Such people are repeatedly elected or appointed
to positions of power, and they go on to distribute the spoils of office to their near
and dear ones. This group psyche is very infertile soil for public morality. In the
ultimate analysis the corrupt politicial or the corrupt administrator is a creation of
the public and is a concrete manifestation of the psychologically corrupt men in
the street with whose approval corruption flourishes with impunity. It is no
surprise therefore that at times the corrupt political leaders walk majestically to
the court and acknowledge their supporters greetings as if they were to receive
award for public service.