Professional Documents
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Professional Ethics
Professional Ethics
Professional Ethics
This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information regarding
the following content coverage and topics –
The significance of civics and ethical education
The concept of ethics
Professional ethics
Citizenship
This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcome stated in the cover
page. Specifically, upon completion of this Learning Guide, you will be able to –
Explain concept civics and ethical education
Describe ethics
Identify professional ethics
Develop citizenship
Enumerate the characteristics of good citizenship
Identify the modes of attaining citizenship
Describe the various modes of losing citizenship
Learning Instructions:
To this effect, civics and ethics as a subject incorporates in its content: civic
knowledge, civic skills and civic virtue.
Civic knowledge: refers to basic concepts and principles about
government and politics.
Civic skills: refer to the intellectual and participatory ability of citizens.
Intellectual ability refers to the ability of individuals to understand,
explain, and evaluate the political and socio-economic situation where
they live in. generally, civic skill implies the capability of individuals to
apply their knowledge into practice. Civic skill also implies the
participatory ability of citizens to monitor and influence public policies
and decisions.
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Civic virtue: refers to dispositions and commitment of citizens that are
essential for the maintenance and development of democratic
government. Elements of civic virtue or civic dispositions include:
Civility: is a polite way of acting or behaving towards others. It is the
need to respect others.
Open-mindedness: can be defined as the disposition to respect to
different ideas and arguments.
Generosity: Generosity means the disposition to expend time, effort
and resource in a civic context for the benefit of others.
Individual Responsibility: Citizens should be disposed to care for and
take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
Self-discipline: Means to be governed by the fundamental values and
principles of constitutional democracy.
Civic mindedness: Is refers to that citizens are very much
concerned about the common good of the people and not about their
own individual welfare and interests.
Compromise: Is one form of behavior that should be observed in
settling conflicts peacefully. It involves the readiness and willingness to
spare something on both sides of the conflict in favor of peaceful
solution of the problem and its outcome.
Tolerance of Diversity: The disposition to tolerate, appreciate, and
support diversity includes respect for the right of others to differ in
ideas, way of life, customs and beliefs.
Loyalty to the nation and its principles: Citizens should be habitually
acted in accordance with the fundamental values and principles of
constitutional system and be committed to narrowing the gap
between those values and principles and actual
practice.
Directions: Answer all the questions listed below. Use the Answer sheet provided
in the next page:
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Ethics
The term ethics derived from Greek ‘ethos’ which denoted the place where people
live together as a definite community and developed common temperament,
character, custom, way of thinking moral law and moral consciousness in general.
Therefore ethics is sustained and systematic reflection on the nature and
justification of an ethic or morality.
Personal Ethics
It is the basic principles and values that govern interaction among individuals.
Personal ethics as with believe and values it can be differing widely from person to
person. Personal ethics determines what an individual believes about morality and
ethics. Personal ethics refers to the ethics that a person identifies with in respect to
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people and situations that they deal with in human activities. The manifestations of
personal ethics are concern for the well-being of others, honesty, fairness,
compliance to the law, refusing to take unfair advantage and respecting the
autonomy of others.
Professional Ethics
The word profession is simply defined as avocation or occupation, which requires a
special and advanced educational training. A person who attained a certain
specialized skill is known as a professional. A man trained in machine or automotive
technology, a man trained in medical science and the like.
But there are also same common codes of ethics and rules of conducts that apply
to all professions regardless of their specific specialization .These are:-
To be a good model, managers must refrain from using public property for their own
professional use. They should also treat everyone without discrimination. Similarly,
managers should not accept bribe, indulge in any activity which may comprise their
professional duty and should avoid conflict of interest. If there is conflict of interest,
managers are expected to resolve the conflict in a manner that safe guards the
public interest. To this end, the following are some of the strategies which the
managers are consider in building a strong ethical culture in their organizations;-
Establish a culture that constantly narrates the operating ‘dos’ and ‘ don’ts ‘
until they become internalized organization – wide
Establish guiding principles such as a code of ethics for appropriate conduct
Build systems that reward ethical behavior and punish un ethical behavior
Demonstrate the commitment to maintain high ethical standards
Train staff in the organizations core ethical values
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Applying managerial ethics in organization may encounter a number of challenges
for various reasons. First since the code of ethics is an innovation, it may be a
challenge until such time that it is internalized. Secondly, since the concepts
incorporated in the code of ethics like integrity, transparency, accountability and the
like may be strange to the organization, applying managerial ethics is a challenge. It
is also common to encounter challenges when change is introduced. Some of such
challenges are;
Some managers may not be professional to perform competently and
responsibly. That why the managerial ethics will be a challenge when
managers are not appointed only on the basis of merits.
Managers may not want to use their power or authority entrusted to them by
the public appropriately. That is they may not act the public interest
What they are doing is contrary to public interests
Managers may not be accountable for their acts
Due to corrupt intentions, managers may not introduce transparent systems
such as providing information to the public and reasons for their decisions.
However, it is possible to overcome such challenges by introducing measures like
consultation about the purpose of the change, managers on the basis of merits,
involving them in the development of code of ethics, organizing training on ethics
and establishing accountability mechanisms to control un-ethical behavior.
Instructions: Answer all the questions listed below. Illustrations may be necessary
to aid some explanations/answers. Write your answers in the sheet
provided in the next page.
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The word Citizenship implies a member or a Citizen of a city. It is also means full
membership of in a city. Citizenship refers to rights & duties of Citizens. Country
grants certain rights to its Citizens &demands certain duties from them. Citizenship
is a political & legal relation established b/n the individual & the state. It is the
politico-legal method of identification. Citizenship is a mode of identification, it
serve as a way of identifying nationals found in territorially defined countries.
Statelessness
Statelessness is lack of nationality. It means deprivation or loss of citizenship by an
individual who has not become a national of any another country. It is loss of
nationality without the corresponding acquisition of a new one. In order to understand
statelessness clearly understanding two concepts is essential. These two concepts
are ‘defacto’ and ‘dejure’.
Deface is Latin word means legal or true. Defacto stateless persons are persons who
have a nationality but that do not give them protection outside their own country.
These individuals have temporarily been displaced from own whom country and living
in another country. This category includes individuals commonly referred to as
Refugees. Previously, the phenomenon of statelessness was viewed as domestic
issue, and has been excluded from international law. It is emergence of defacto
stateless persons on the global scale that necessitated international action. Today,
statelessness has become an international problem that necessitates action.
Dejure stateless persons are individuals who have be deprived of nationality at their
own government. There are individuals whose citizenship is removed from them by
their own government. As compared to defacto stateless persons, dejure stateless
persons are quite rare. However, dejure stateless persons appeared on massive
scale during the Russian civil war (1918-21), and during the Nazi regime in Germany.
For instance, Adolph Hitler, in Germany, adopted a policy against the Jews. Hitler
removed German citizen ship from the Jews; the laws were evicted from Germany.
This again resulted in the appearance of a number of dejure stateless persons.
Except these two cases Russia and Germany, dejure stateless persons are rare in
the world. However, every government in the world has the right and the intention to
remove its citizenship rights from its citizens commits illegal acts. For instance, the
government may remove its citizenship right from its citizens if these citizens;
- Vote in foreign elections
- Serve in the armed force of any other country
- Desert in time of war etc.
Today, there are two modes of acquiring Ethiopian citizenship: by descent and by
law.
1. By Blood (descent):- according to the nationality proclamation (proc.No.
378/2003), any Person is recognized as an Ethiopian national by descent
where both or either of his parent is an Ethiopian. In other words, if a child is
born to an Ethiopian mother or father, he/she is an Ethiopian regardless of
his/her birthplace.
2. By law (naturalization):- the particulars of Ethiopian nationality law are
legislated in the Ethiopian nationality proclamation No. 378/2003. In this
proclamation the requirements for naturalization in Ethiopia is clearly
indicated. Naturalization is a process of granting citizenship status or
nationality by those who are not originally nationals of a state. Following are
the ways by which a person can become a naturalized citizen of Ethiopia.
A) By application: it is given for a person
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1. Reaches the age of majority and legally capable under the Ethiopian
law
2. Has established his/her domicile in Ethiopia and has lived in Ethiopia
for a total of at least four years preceding the submission of his/her
application
3. Able to communicate in any language of one of the nations,
nationalities of the country
4. Has sufficient and lawful source of income to maintain him/herself and
his/her family
5. A person of good character
6. Has no record of criminal conviction able to show that he/she has been
released from his/her previous nationality or the possibility of obtaining
such a release upon the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality or that
he/she is a stateless person.
7. Ready to take an oath of allegiance (I----------, solemnly affirm that I will
be a loyal National of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and
be faithful to its constitution).
B) The case of marriage: a foreigner who is married to an Ethiopian
national may acquire Ethiopian nationality by law if:
1. The marriage is concluded in accordance with the Ethiopian
laws or in accordance with the laws of any country where
the marriage is contracted
2. there is a lapse of at least two years since the conclusion of
the marriage
3. he/she has lived in Ethiopia for at least one year
preceding the submission of his/her application
4. He/she reaches the age of majority, he/she has been
released his/her previous nationality and is ready to take the
oath of allegiance to the Ethiopian state.
C) Cases of adoption: a child adopted by Ethiopian national may acquire
Ethiopian nationality if: he has not attained the age of majority, he lives
together with his adopting parents in Ethiopia, and where one of his
adopting parents is non-Ethiopian, such a parent is expected to express
his/her consent in writing.
D) Special cases: a foreigner who has made an outstanding contribution in
the interest of Ethiopia may be conferred with Ethiopian nationality without
the requirements to establish his/her domicile in Ethiopia and ability to
communicate with any Ethiopian language.
Instructions: Answer all the questions listed below. Illustrations may be necessary
to aid some explanations/answers. Write your answers in the sheet
provided in the next page.
1. Define citizenship? (3pts)
2. Explain the characteristics of a good citizenship? (6pts)
3. What are ways of acquiring citizenship? (8pts)
4. Identify ways of losing citizenship? (6pts)
5. Describe statelessness? (3pts)
6. Explain ways of acquiring and loosing Ethiopian citizenship? (8pts)
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