The Principles of Public Administration are a set of fundamental norms established by the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which condition the standard that all administrative organizations must follow.
The principles are provided for in accordance with article 37 of the Federal Constitution of 1988:
"The direct and indirect Public Administration of any of the Powers of the Union of States, of the Federal District and the Municipalities will obey the principles of legality, impersonality, morality, publicity and efficiency".
These principles are directly related to the area of Administrative Law and have an importance with regard to guidelines that institutions, whether public or private, and their managers must follow to function in terms legal issues. The most important principles are represented by the acronym "CLEAN". Are they:
Principle of Legality
This is considered one of the most important principles for Public Administration. It deals with the basic guidelines of conduct, which result in strict compliance by the administrator and all public agents with the law, regardless of their position.
Principle of Impersonality
It deals with the equal treatment that the Administration must give to all the administered who are in a similar situation. This principle is also related to the principle of purpose, which overlays the public and egalitarian interest over individual and private interests.
Principle of Morality
This principle proposes that the administrator act based on ethics in the Administration, and should not only investigate the criteria of convenience, timeliness and fairness in their actions, but also distinguishing what is honest from what is dishonest.
Advertising Principle
The purpose of this principle is to indicate that the acts of the Public Administration must have the widest possible dissemination of its results and actions for its administrators. This mechanism is important because it makes it possible to control the legitimacy of the conduct of administrative agents.
Principle of Efficiency
This principle imposes on all public agents that they carry out their duties with efficiency, agility and perfection, so that they have greater effectiveness and efficiency for the Administration. It is the most modern principle of the administrative function, demanding positive results for the public service and a satisfactory response to the needs of the community and its members.
Other Principles of Public Administration
In addition to these, it is important to emphasize that there are also other principles that are not written explicitly in the law, but that act in a complementary way to these, for the proper functioning of the institutions. These are:
Principle of Motivation
This principle determines that for every administrative action, the public agent must present the reasons that motivated that decision to its administrators. It becomes a requirement because it is a right of the administrator and without its explanation, it can lead to the possibility of deviation or abuse of power by managers.
Principle of Reasonableness and Proportionality
Despite being used synonymously, the principles of reasonableness and proportionality have some distinctions.
The principle of reasonableness aims to prevent the practice of acts that escape reason and the balance of “common thinking”, such as decision-making that benefit only those closest to us. Proportionality, on the other hand, works as a parameter to assess the adequacy and need for a given command.
Principle of Public Interest
It is also called the Principle of Purpose, it deals with the collective interests of those managed, that is, all services they must be for purposes of general interests, the total or partial waiver of powers or competence prohibited, except with authorization by law.
It is through these principles that all people who are part of the administration must comply with the Brazilian Constitution. But it is important to remember that there are also other principles that have more specific laws.
See also the meanings of Administrative law, Public administration, Public service and Principles of proportionality and reasonableness.