The Problems and Solutions of Public Service Ethics in Taiwan: Perspective of the Relations between Political Appointees and Civil Servants

Taiwan experienced the first party rotation in 2000, but political appointees and civil servants did not establish cooperative relations at the beginning stage. The ruling party - Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -charged the new administration was trapped in old bureaucracy so that it replaced disobedient civil servants. Meanwhile, the term of political appointees were very short and civil servants complained those political appointees incapable and abuse of power. After the second rotation in 2008, the deputy secretary-general of the Executive Yuan refused to be transferred to a new position, and then she chose to retire. The DPP censured that the ruling party-Kuomintang (KMT)-carried out a purge of previous administration's officials. Such criticisms are harmful to the establishment of appropriate relations between political appointees and civil servants, and affect the operation of the administration. The article describes the role and the responsibilities of political appointees and permanent civil servants and the dilemma they have to face. Then, it demonstrates some examples about the bad interaction between political appointees and civil servants and their reasons during the two party rotations. Finally, it brings up an ethical framework for political appointees and civil servants to illustrate what they "should do" and "should not do", and tries to build up the suitable relations between them and set up an appropriate norm.