The state of civil servants’ ethics and morals – citizens’ survey results
Valtiovarainministeriö
19.10.2017
Julkaisusarja:
Ministry of Finance publications 2c/2017This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-251-906-1Tiivistelmä
The focus of the survey was to understand citizens’ opinions of the importance of different values and how they are reflected in the work of civil servants. The research was carried out in TNS Gallup Forum panels and before the results of the research were reviewed, responses from those employed by the State were removed. A total of 981 people, representing people aged 15 - 79 in our country’s population, responded to the survey. The respondents evaluated how important they thought the values related to the work of civil servants were, and how well they were reflected in government and in the work of civil servants. When the various values related to the work of civil servants are listed in order of importance, the leading values are trust, neutrality and independence, the principle of legality and accountability, expertise and the service principle. The respondents were asked to evaluate whether they thought that the situation regarding one or more values at present was such that there was cause for concern or were their values among those that required urgent action. Among the most frequent urgent actions that respondents considered were needed, was the inclusion of openness and trust in the work of civil servants. The research investigated citizens’ trust in the Finnish government and in the work of its civil servants. A total of 61% of Finns considered that the government and the work of its civil servants could be trusted. This was the first citizens’ survey commissioned by the Ministry of Finance relating to the values of government and civil service ethics. A similar survey was carried out among civil servants for the third time and its results can be found in the publication State of Civil Service Ethics in Finland – a Survey of the Ethical Values and Principles of Central Government Employees (Timo Moilanen, Ministry of Finance publications 30/2017)