Ethical principles help us make positive and just decisions that contribute to the common good of all.
Reliability, honesty, integrity, fairness, and collaboration are a few of many ethical behaviors that fulfill basic human needs, prevent harm to people and the environment, and create credibility and trust. The consequences of unethical decisions include loss of trust, authoritarianism, autocracy, nepotism and corruption.
The controversial bill that reduced wetlands protection illustrates the importance of ethical decision-making. Despite opposition from wetland scientists and rejected attempts to amend the bill, legislators passed House Bill 1383 in a party-line vote, 64-30 in the House, 32-17 in the Senate. Some media reports stated that several legislators who voted in favor of the bill have ties to land development companies and lobbyist groups.
Many bills related to education, employment, healthcare, housing, and transportation face similar outcomes. Our legislators can make better decisions if they expand their perspective. They must collaborate with and listen to facts from experts, professionals, and the people who will be most impacted by their decisions.
Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center says impartiality and non-partisanship are key values when navigating complex issues. The Framework for Ethical Decision Making offers six ethical lenses for decision-making.
- Rights – People have a right to a degree of privacy, to make life choices, to be told the truth, and not to be injured.
- Justice – Every person deserves fair or equal treatment related to social, distributive, corrective, retributive, and restorative or transformational justice.
- Common Good – Everyone’s welfare relies on clean air and water, a system of laws, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public education system, and public recreational areas.
- Utilitarian – Ethical actions should promote the greatest good and do the least harm for all who are affected.
- Virtue- Ethical actions should help people develop honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, integrity, fairness, and prudence.
- Care– Ethical decisions consider relationships, concerns, and feelings of all relevant parties. For example, a holistic approach to public health policy considers food security, transportation access, fair wages, accessible housing, environmental protection, and physical health.
After viewing the problem through multiple lenses, legislators must ask and answer umbrella questions. What needs to be fixed? Where did the problem originate? Does the proposed solution resolve the issue and support the Indiana and United States Constitutions? Does the legislation have actionable items that are achievable?
Additional questions and answers will broaden the decision-making perspective.
Is my decision based on relevant facts and scientific evidence? What are the pros and cons of the decision? What are alternative and creative options?
What are the short-term consequences? How does my decision impact future generations?
Does my decision respect the rights of all relevant parties? Could this decision damage individuals or communities, or unequally benefit certain people? Have all relevant persons and groups been consulted?
Is my decision based on what is best for all Hoosiers or is it based on my partisan desire to support my political party, special interest groups, or win and retain office?
Do my personal, cultural, and religious values prevent me from being sensitive to other cultural or religious norms and values?
These thoughts and questions merely scratch the surface of political ethics. If you want other perspectives, Political Ethics: A Handbook, edited by Hall and Sabl, provides insights into the ethical challenges of political life in the 21st century — the virtues and excesses of partisanship, compromise, representation, leadership, corruption, lies and deception, and more.
Because legislative decisions have lasting effects, we the people must encourage, expect, and hold our legislators accountable to make ethical decisions that promote the greatest common good. According to John Stuart Mill, a person may cause harm to others not only by actions but by inaction, and in either case they are justly accountable for the injury.
League of Women Voters of Johnson County member Mary Kooi wrote this column. The League’s mission is to empower voters and defend democracy. All League-sponsored work is strictly nonpartisan. All people are welcome to attend the Members Meeting on the third Thursday of each month: for more information visit lwvjcin.org. Send comments to [email protected].
