Ethics in Politics Why It Matters More Than Ever and How It Can Make a Difference
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Focus 5 Ethics in Politics Why it matters more than ever and How it can make a difference Benoît Girardin Ethics in Politics Why it matters more than ever and How it can make a difference Ethics in Politics Why it matters more than ever and How it can make a difference Benoît Girardin Globethics.net Focus No. 5 Globethics.net Focus 5 Benoît Girardin, Ethics in Politics Geneva: Globethics.net, 2012 ISBN 978-2-940428-20-5 (online version) ISBN 978-2-940428-21-2 (print version) © 2012 Globethics.net Cover design: Juan Pablo Cisneros Editor: Páraic Réamonn Globethics.net International Secretariat 150 route de Ferney 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Website: www.globethics.net Email: [email protected] All web links in this text have been verified as of 6 January 2012. This book can be downloaded for free from the Globethics.net Library, the lead- ing global online library on ethics: www.globethics.net . © The Copyright is the Creative Commons Copyright 2.5 . This means: Globethics.net grants the right to download and print the electronic version, to distribute and to transmit the work for free, under three conditions: 1) Attribu- tion: The user must attribute the bibliographical data as mentioned above and must make clear the license terms of this work; 2) Non-commercial. The user may not use this work for commercial purposes or sell it; 3) No change of text. The user may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Nothing in this li- cense impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. Globethics.net can give permission to waive these conditions, especially for re- print and sale in other continents and languages. Content Preface 9 1 Is Ethics Relevant in Politics? 13 1 Some Examples 13 1.1 Reconciliation after conflict and war. Different attitudes and institutional processes. Opposite results 13 1.2 Environmental challenges 16 1.3 Citizen rights. Information, freedom and respect 19 2 Some Statements For or Against 20 3 Mapping Positions on Ethics in Politics 21 2 Taking Stock of the World’s Main Traditions 23 1 Statements from Several Heritages 23 1.1 Indian traditions 23 1.2 Chinese streams 25 1.3 Greek and Latin schools of thought 26 1.4 Judeo-Christian traditions 27 1.5 Muslim traditions 28 1.6 African practices 29 1.7 European Renaissance and Enlightenment 30 1.7 Today’s approaches 31 2 Main Lessons of this Legacy 33 2.1 Highlights 33 2.2 Limits and pitfalls faced by the traditions 34 3 Today’s Challenges 35 3.1 Complexity and a systemic dimension 35 3.2 Environmental sustainability – ecological footprint 36 3.3 Towards a multi-polar world 38 3.4 Persisting poverty 39 3.5 Self-serving states and state capture 41 3.6 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international criminal tribunals 42 3.7 Communication and global information 44 3 Political Ethics 45 1 A Common Mistake: Copy and Paste of Individual Ethics to Political Ethics 45 2 Structural Ethics Bears on Laws, Institutional Mediations, Compromises, Results 47 3 Political Ethics: Vision and Process 50 4 Ethics of Conviction and Responsibility 51 5 Politics not Identical with Social and Economic Processes 52 6 Political Ethics Differs from the Ethics of Associations and Businesses and the Personal Ethics of Rulers 54 7 Political Ethics Extends from Rulers to Citizens 55 8 Summary 56 4 A Conceptual Framework 59 1 A Threefold Foundation 59 1.1 Limitation of power 59 1.2 Effectiveness 62 1.3 Accountability 63 2 Justice as the Trunk of the Ethical Tree 64 3 The Ethical Tree 66 3.1 The ethical hexagon – six clusters of cardinal values 67 3.2 Ethical hexagon – rating and ranking 75 3.3 Scoring adequately on all six values 78 3.4 Competition among cardinal values. Tradeoffs. Dilemmas 79 5 Values, Interests and Risks: An Uneasy Encounter 83 1 Wishful Thinking, Hampering, Promoting 83 2 Consistency rather than Alignment 85 6 Three Dimensions of Politics and Political Ethics 87 1 Symbolic, Framework, Management 87 2 Categories of Player: Diverging Ethical Perspectives 90 3 Ethical Values versus Human Rights 95 4 Values versus Governance 97 4.1 Basics 97 4.2 Patterns of governance 99 4.3 Ethics and governance 99 4.4 Institutions 101 4.5 Political Parties 102 4.6 Public administration and ethics 104 7 Methodology of Implementation 107 1 How to handle instruments and processes 107 1.1 Steps in designing policy or making political decisions 108 2 Aiming at Consistency 109 3 Evaluation 110 8 Case Studies 113 1 Climate Change and Environment 113 1.1 Climate change negotiations 113 1.2 Biodiversity 116 2 Natural Scarce Resources Management 118 2.1 Foreign land acquisitions 118 2.2 Water use and management 120 3 Politics and Political Processes 123 3.1 Elections 123 3.2 Negotiations 125 3.3 Settling conflict – the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement 127 3.4 Ethical uprisings in Arab countries 130 4 Shaping Economics 132 4.1 Regulatory framework 132 4.2 Fiscal fairness 135 4.3 Fighting corruption 137 5 Social Disparities and Conflicts 140 5.1 Definition of poverty and poverty reduction 140 5.2 Post-conflict reconciliation 144 5.3 Migration and integration 146 5.4 Cultural diversity under a single legal umbrella 148 6 Managing Information Ethically 149 6.1 Right to information: the case of India 150 6.2 Electronic communication 151 9 Conclusion. Lessons and Theses 155 1 Lessons Drawn 155 2 Fourteen Theses 156 Appendices 161 1 Declaration on Ethics in Politics 161 Why it matters more than ever and how it can make a difference 161 2 Glossary of Main Terms 165 3 Indicators 167 Public governance indicators 167 Social progress indicators 168 4 Selected Bibliography 169 “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” Shakespeare, Hamlet Acknowledgements The ideas developed in this book are the result of many intellectual in- teractions in different corners of the world. In over twenty years of long diplomatic postings to countries as diverse as Cameroon, Pakistan, Ro- mania and Madagascar, I could observe political processes (both domes- tic and international), capture their complexities and intricacies, and see how ethics were here wishful thinking and there a constructive drive. During the last year I have been in regular touch with Rwanda. So far as immediate preparatory steps to the book are concerned, I would like first to mention here Sangeeta Sharma, professor of public administration in the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, and Ambassador Osvaldo Agatiello, professor of international economics in the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations (GSD), who joined me in writing a Declaration on Ethics in Politics now published as a Globethics.net Text. I am grateful also to Christoph Stückelberger, founder and director of Globethics.net and professor of ethics in the University of Basel, and to Eric Fuchs, professor emeritus of ethics in the University of Geneva, and his successor, François Dermange. In- sightful reactions and criticisms from GSD students, and their peers in Jaipur (India), Antananarivo (Madagascar) and Butare (Rwanda), have improved the arguments of the book. I am thankful also to Páraic Réamonn, Globethics.net’s publications edi- tor, for help with the English. He has helped to improve both its fluency and its accuracy. “ Omnis traductor traditor ,” said the Romans – a claim more familiar in its Italian form, “ Traduttore - traditore ”. He has proved himself an exception to the rule, translating without treachery. Preface Politics is an essential human activity – essential in building socie- ties and communities based on rules, laws and a balance of conflicting interests. Politics is complex and difficult. It requires a high level of re- sponsibility and commitment from citizens, political parties, parliamen- tarians, government executives, the judiciary, the media, business , non- governmental organisations, and religious and educational institutions. But polls on all continents on the confidence of people in institutions show that people do not place much trust in politics and politicians. They are often seen as selfish and corrupt power-players, defending spe- cial interests instead of the common good and the different parts of the population. “Ethics in politics” seems to many a contradiction in terms, even though many politicians try to give their best for the common cause of a country or the international community. Trust in and respect for politics and politicians is vital for living to- gether in communities and societies – especially in democracies. Where it is missing, populist, fascist or dictatorial tendencies can easily grow. In the financial crisis of 2008, the absence of trust in bankers and banking brought the global financial system almost to collapse; today, it is still in danger of collapse. In recent years the call has grown for busi- ness ethics, corporate responsibility and corporate responsible govern- ance. Thousands of publications, initiatives, standards, labels and codes try to re-establish trust – not just as a marketing effort, but to really make a difference. Business ethics is in overdrive. Not so political ethics. The literature is much less developed and the profound scepticism that ethics in politics is feasible remains strong. At the same time, many movements show the thirst for credible politics: the 10 Ethics in Politics Arab spring with its call for freedom and democracy, the Indian broad movement against corruption in politics, the European replacement of governments in Greece and Italy by technocrats and intellectuals whose mandate is to rebuild national unity, African initiatives for responsible leadership, Latin American movements for peoples’ participation and citizenship ( cidadania), North American social network campaigns and many others.