| CODE | PPG2005 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Political Ethics: Power, Policy and Process | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Policy, Politics and Governance | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | How can we talk about 'right' and 'wrong' in politics? What are the standards of ethical political behaviour? This study-unit offers answers to these fundamental questions. It does so by examining ethical issues associated with political action and exploring their consequences for society, from a human rights perspective among other standpoints. Beginning with an examination of the philosophical underpinnings of democratic politics and government, the study-unit proceeds to examine the ethical implications for political action of issues such as political integrity, fundamental rights and freedoms, corruption and crime, political lying and deceit, the oppression of minorities and state violence, among others. Study-Unit Aims: The subject matter of this study-unit is an essential element in the intellectual and ethical formation of political actors. The study-unit aims: - To provide students with an understanding of: the principles underlying political choices; the moral dilemmas inherent in some burning political questions that affect human dignity; and how to appraise the ethical implications of such policy choices; - To provide students with an appreciation of a series of cases concerning public life and ethical/unethical conduct, both nationally and internationally; - To provide students with an appreciation of the difference between the ethics of process and the ethics of policy, and related notions of power. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain basic concepts such as 'political ethics', 'fundamental rights and freedoms', 'human dignity', 'conflict of interest', 鈥榗orruption鈥�, 鈥榮tate violence鈥� and 'the common good'; - Read and comment on the propositions of selected political thinkers who have written about political ethics; - Analyse 鈥� with reference to commonly accepted principles of good governance or ethical standards 鈥� the political scandals, ethical dilemmas and wrongdoings that are frequently associated with policy choices or with the political process. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Write thoughtful, well-informed appraisals of different cases, investigating claims about unethical behaviour and moral controversies associated with policy choices in various domains. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Hall E and Sabl A (eds) 2022, Political ethics: A handbook. Princeton University Press. - Crookston E, Killoren D and Trerise J (eds) 2016, Ethics in politics: The rights and obligations of individual political agents. Taylor & Francis. Supplementary Readings: - Brown-Shafii, Susan. 2011. Promoting Good Governance, Development and Accountability. Palgrave Macmillan. - Dobel, J Patrick. 2000. Public Integrity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. - Graafland, Johan. 2007. Economics, Ethics and the Market. London: Routledge. - Little, I M D. 2002. Ethics, Economics and Politics: Principles of Public Policy. - Machiavelli, Nicolo'. 2003. The Prince. London: Penguin Books. - Veggeland, Noralv. 2009. Taming the Regulatory State: Politics and Ethics. London: Edward Elgar. |
|||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
|||||||||
| LECTURER/S | ||||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
||||||||||