Research on the functioning of public administration is interdisciplinary. The analysis of the functioning of public administration requires a systemic view in which the system of relations between the entire system and individual subsystems of public administration on the one hand and its external environment on the other is an important element. This approach comes from the management sciences. It is reflected in the science of administration. The social subsystem is a particular subsystem of public administration requiring an interdisciplinary approach. In the Polish system of public administration, the social subsystem consists of employees forming the civil service corps and other staff employed in offices and other public administration structures. Formation of the administration staff is associated not only with the recruitment of properly educated candidates for work in the offices of public administration bodies. It is very important to shape appropriate ethical attitudes of officials of both government and local government administration. They should know the rules of official ethics. However, it is not possible to codify all the ethical standards of a public administration employee, so the general standards of the moral law should be applied in this respect. Currently, graduates of higher education studies preparing for work in administration are generally adequately prepared for analysing normative acts, issuing administrative decisions or understanding the rules of the legal system in general, but they lack the basis for addressing to a sufficient extent the issues related to ethics of acting and respecting the values adopted in the society.