Ethics/Values/Public Policy

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course provides an introduction to the following course themes: 1) Values (and not just interests) are fundamental to public policy, and so sophisticated policy analysts should understand the roles that values can play in policy analysis and the policy process; 2) Values are contested in that political actors interpret core values (e.g., equity, liberty, justice, security, efficiency) in conflicting ways and also place different weights on different values; 3) Differing institutional arrangements (markets, democracy, authority) enhance certain values and potentially suppress others; 4) Differing forms of reasoning (e.g., utilitarianism, deontology, or casuistry) offer differing ways to reach conclusions regarding value choices, but that no method can be demonstrated to provide the answer to these choices; 5) The systematic analysis of values can provide policy recommendations that are superior to those made without systematic reflection; 6) Policy analysts should be able to provide a reasoned explanation regarding the values embedded in the policy recommendations they make. These principles can usefully be applied to the policies of individual countries as well as multilateral organizations. In this class, we will focus on how these values apply to countries other than the United States as well as to international organizations.