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- Coghill, Ken, et al.
(författare)
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Ethics, parliaments and members: learning to think ethically
- 2014
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Ingår i: Challenges of contemporay governance. - Montreal : The International Political Science Association.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parliamentary democracies are conceptualised as complex evolving socio-political systems in which the parliament is the apex institution through which the community determines the rules and standards applying to individuals, executive government, business, other organisations and relationships within the community and across its borders. As the apex institution, assessing the failings of the parliament provide an opportunity to examine the functioning of the system as a whole. A key factor affecting parliament’s reputation, effectiveness and legitimacy is ethical conduct by its elected members. Whilst members of the political Executive bear heavier responsibilities, all members of a parliament have a duty to behave in ways that enhance rather than detract from the parliament’s performance of its roles and its legitimacy. Compliance with accepted ethical standards of conduct relies on a culture of acceptance and compliance, detection of breaches and sanctions for wrong-doing. The realisation of the prospects of detection and of sanctions facilitates a culture of compliance. A culture of compliance reduces the transaction costs of social exchanges, leaving more resources available to the institution of parliament and its elected members to fulfil the roles of the institution. Accordingly, it is in the long-term interests of both the parliament and its members that individual members practice high levels of ethical competence in the conduct of their parliamentary responsibilities. The paper reports research findings in an international study of formal induction and further development programmes in representative parliaments. Information was collected from members of national parliaments and trainers through surveys (including an innovative measure of ethical competence) and via interviews. Approaches to training relating to ethical conduct were found to vary widely, with some parliamentary induction programmes giving it considerable attention whilst others eschewed the topic. The paper concludes with comments on further research into how elected office holders (such as members of parliament) acquire, develop and sustain ethical competence, including the effectiveness of learning techniques focused on ethical behaviour.
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| 2. |
- Coghill, Ken, et al.
(författare)
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Parliamentary integrity systems : Parliamentarians’ ethical conduct, accountability and transparency
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper argues that ethical conduct by a parliament’s members is fundamental to the institution’s performance of its functions. Assurance that members are conducting themselves ethically requires that they are accountable for their conduct, which in turn requires that there is transparency around that conduct.Parliaments vary widely in their approaches to ethical conduct, including the nature and extent of accountability and transparency by their members. This paper compares such approaches across a range of legislatures.
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| 3. |
- Kavathatzopoulos, Iordanis, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Supporting politicians’ skill to handle moral issues
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of IPSA 23rd Congress on Political Science, 2014. - Montreal : The International Political Science Association.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In politics it is necessary, for leaders as well as for political parties, to have the ability to handle all kinds of moral problems that may arise during any political activity. Failure to address moral issues properly has significant impact on a political organization’s influence on society, affecting election results, image, and public relations as well as internal processes. It may have a detrimental effect on the morality of citizens and society. Competence in handling moral problems in a satisfying way is therefore very important for any political leader and political organization. Education in ethics should equip politicians for difficult decisions, and ethical competence is therefore the most important goal of training programs. We need reliable and effective methods to stimulate and support political leaders’ ethical competence. In order to achieve ethical competence for political leaders we need to describe and assess psychological processes aimed at the handling of moral problems: How political leaders reason in front of moral problems, how they solve these problems, and how they make their decisions. Ethical skill in psychology, and in accordance to the classical philosophical position, is understood as the basis and the aim of ethical competence of leaders. Politicians’ ethical competence and confidence is defined as the use of a problem-solving and decision-making cognitive ability, independent of particular political, ideological or moral values. Based on that, we can construct valid assessment tools and training programs that support the acquisition and use of ethical competence and skills.
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