Ethics and Politics: Cases and Comments - Softcover

Contents. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Recommended Reading. Part One: THE ETHICS OF PROCESS. 1. Violence. Introduction. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. Alternatives to the Bomb. Bombing the Bunker in Baghdad. Intervention in Somalia. Why Attack Iraq? Interrogating Detainees. Recommended Reading. 2. Deception and Secrecy. Introduction. Disinformation for Qaddafi. The Iran-Contra Affair. George W. Bush on Iraq's Nuclear Weapons. A Standard of Candor. A Tale of Two Task Forces. Recommended Reading. 3. Privacy of Officials. Introduction. The Confirmation of Justice Thomas. The Investigation and Impeachment of President Clinton. Recommended Reading. 4. Manipulation. Introduction. Crafty Communications. Lyndon Johnson, Master Manipulator. The Texas Redistricting Caper. Statesman or Sap? Al Gore in Florida in the 2000 Election. Recommended Reading. 5. Official Disobedience. Introduction. The Odd Couple. Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. George Shultz and the Polygraph Test. George Shultz and the Iran-Contra Affair. Agent Rowley Blows the Whistle. The Space Shuttle Challenger. The Space Shuttle Columbia. Recommended Reading. Part Two: THE ETHICS OF POLICY. 6. Policy Analysis. Introduction. Saving the Tuolumne. The Risks of Asarco. The Calculator. Listening to the City: What Should Be Built at Ground Zero? Recommended Reading. 7. Distributive Justice. Introduction. Defunding Organ Transplants in Arizona. Rationing in Public: The Oregon Health Plan. Welfare Reform in Wisconsin. Death and Taxes. Recommended Reading. 8. Equal Opportunity. Introduction. Affirmative Action at AT&T. Affirmative Action at the Michigan Law School. The Vouchers that Made Milwaukee Famous. A Golfer's Handicap? Recommended Reading. 9. Liberty and Morality. Introduction. Decriminalizing Marijuana for Medical Use. Tossing Dwarfs in Illinois. Making Marriage Gay. The Controversial Curriculum. Recommended Reading. 10. Liberty and Life. Introduction. Administering Abortion Policy. Abortion in South Dakota. Regulating Abortion Late in the Term. Federal Funding for Stem Cell Research. Ethics Without Borders? Clinical Trials of AZT. Recommended Reading.

Learn to recognize and assess the strengths and weaknesses of moral arguments in the making of public policy with ETHICS AND POLITICS: CASES AND COMMENTS. You'll find coverage of the ethics of process: the morally questionable means--violence, deception, and corruption--that are most commonly used by public officials, as well as the ethics of policy: the valuable but often competing ends that public officials strive to achieve. Conflicting values, scarce resources, and stakes as high as life and death combine with the duties of public office to make choices among policy goals controversial and morally difficult. Each ethical issue is paired with case studies in contemporary American politics. For example, the controversy over the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay; or issues during the campaign and election of 2004.