Should a civil servant follow orders or conscience?
Side one
Follow lawful orders
A neutral bureaucracy carries out the elected government's decisions. Officials who substitute their own views undermine democracy.
Max Weber: Bureaucracy and Authority · Sardar Patel: Unity and Civil Service · Hobbes: Order and the StateSide two
Conscience has the last word
History shows great harm done by officials just following orders. Some instructions must be refused.
Hannah Arendt: Thinking and Responsibility · Kant: Duty and Dignity · Martin Luther King Jr.: Nonviolent JusticeCommon ground
Both accept that officials serve the public through lawful institutions.
How to reconcile them
Give frank advice, record dissent, use legal channels and refuse only clearly illegal or immoral orders, which is what Patel's steel frame was meant to allow.
When each side is right
Stress neutrality on policy choices. Stress conscience when orders are illegal, discriminatory or violate dignity.
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