Princeton University
Woodrow Wilson School
Graduate Program

Fall term 1995
WWS 503 Professor Jennifer Hochschild
Email: Hochschi@wws.princeton.edu

Ethical Problems in Public Affairs

This course asks why we make certain policy and professional choices, and whether we can and should make different choices. It examines issues that are both controversial and important, such as affirrnative action, immigration policy, and the legitimate role of the police. It also examines professional ethical issues that are reasonably frequent and could have major consequences, such as conflicting loyalties, whistleblowing, and the problem of"dirty hands "

More formally, the course has several objectives: to examine the underpinnings and implications of basic philosophical and ethical frameworks such as utilitarianism and the politics of identity, to apply those frameworks to policy and professional conflicts and the to help you to develop more sophisticated understandings of and better justifications for various normative commitments.

Each week will focus on one topic The readings and initial lecture will give us the resources both to address a broad philosophical or ethical question e.g. how do we cope with conflicting rights of citizens? and the details of an illustrative example(s) e.g. how should the state adjudicate between proponents and opponents of affirmative action or comparable worth?

Course Requirements

Reading: The following books are available in the U Store, and are on reserve at the Woodrow Wilson School Library:

* David Cooper, Value Pluralism and Ethical Choice (St. Martin's Press, 1993)

* Robert Dahl, The New American Political (Dis)Order (U. Of California at Berkeley, Institute of Government Studies, 1994)

* Robert Goodin, Protecting the Vulnerable (University of Chicago Press, 1985)

*Richard Hermstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve (Free Press, 1994)

*Kenneth Karst, Belonging to America (Yale University Press, 1989)

* Jane Mansbridge, Beyond Adversary Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 1980)

* Arthur Schlesinger Jr., The Disuniting of America (Norton, 1992)

*Jerome Skolnick, Justice Without Trial, 3rd. ed. (Macmillan, 1994)

*Dennis Thompson, Political Ethics and Public Office (Harvard University Press, 1990)

*W. Kip Viscusi, Fatal Tradeoffs (Oxford University Press, 1992)

NOTE: We will NOT be using Henry Aaron, ed., Values and Public Policv (Brookings Institution, 1994) even though it is included in the books at the UStore for this course.

Thinking and Talking: It should go without saying, but will not, that this course is a seminar and will succeed or fail as a consequence of your involvement. That point holds collectively the discussion will only be as good as everyone makes it and individually your evaluation will depend heavily on your thoughtful and informed (but not necessarily voluminous) contribution.

Writing: For each class, prepare a one (single spaced) page memo stating how you would resolve the problem facing us that week, and on what ethical basis you rest that resolution. You will also state why a competing resolution of the problem is less desirable, and in what way the alternative ethical framework(s) is weak. Obviously, you can only make a few declarations in this memo; these are designed to begin, but not end, the discussion.

The memo is to be tuned in to Charlotte Cooney by 2 P.M. on the previous day (that is, Tuesday) so they can be copied and distributed to the class (via your mailbox). Be sure to read all of the memos before class.

You will also write a brief ( 10-12) page paper due at the end of reading period, on January 16, 1996. The paper may do either of two things: pursue some aspect of an ethical or professional dilemma in more detail than we have done in class, or apply the general material that we have read in class to some other ethical or professional conflict. The only constraints are that l) the paper topic must directly tackle some ethical problem; 2) it may begin with but must move beyond material that we have read or discussed in the seminar; and 3) I need to approve the topic and your approach to it.

Papers must be turned in on the date they are due.

There will be no final exam.

Grades: Seminar participation will account for roughly half of your grade, and the paper and memos for the other half. I use qualifiers here because I reserve the right to adjust grades either up or down, depending on such things as trajectory, effort, special circumstances, and so on. You need to complete each component to pass the course.

Class Schedule

Note: all material not contained in the books available for purchase will be on reserve in the Woodrow Wilson School library.

I. THE ETHNICS OF POLICY CHOICES

September 20: Values, Institutions, and Public Policy

September 27: Conflicts Within Values, Between Values and Institutions, .and Among Policy Options

Cooper, Value Pluralism and Ethical Choice, Note, chapters 14, 7-11

October 4: Redistributing across Ascriptive Categories: Affirmative Action

Russell Nieli, Racial Preference and Racial Justice (Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1994): chapters 2, 3, 8, l 1, 12, 13, 19, 20, Appendix A, Appendix B

California Civil Rights Initiative, 1995

Memorandum on Affirmative Action from President Clinton to Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, July 19, 1995

University of California Board of Regents Policy Ensuring Equal Treatment Admissions, July 5 1 995

New Republic article on affirmative action by class, not race or gender (exact citation to come)

NOTE: This class will be rescheduled, due to Yom Kippur.

October 11: Redistributing Downward: Welfare

Goodin, Protecting the Vulnerable, chapters 1, 5, 6

Robert Nozick, Anarchy. State. and Utopia, pp. 150174

Friedrich Hayek, The Mirage of Social Justice, chapter 9

October 18: Taking Risks: Who Should Decide? Who Should Pay?

Viscusi, Fatal Tradeoffs, chapters 1, 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14

Gerald Dworkin, "Paternalism," in Richard Wasserstrom, ed., Moralitv and the Law

Thompson, "Paternalistic Power," in Political Ethics and Public Office

October 25: Policing

Skolnick, Justice Without Trial, chapters 1, 3, 8, 911, Epilogues A and B

Derrick Bell, Race. Racism. and American Law, pp. 328345

Jeffrey Reiman, "The Social Contract and the Police Use of Deadly Force," in Frederick Elliston and Michael Feldberg, eds., Moral Issues in Police Work

November 8: Who Belongs to America?: Multiculturalism

Schlesinger, The Disuniting of America

Joan Scott, "The Campaign Against Political Correctness: What's Really at Stake," Change, Nov./Dec. 1991

Molefi Asante, Afrocentricity, pp. 1943

browse: "African American Baseline Essays," Portland Public Schools, 1990 "Polish American Heritage Packet," Yonkers Public Schools, n.d.

November 15: Who Belongs to America?: Immigration Policy

Karst, Belonging to America, chapters 1, 3, 6, 1012

State of California, Proposition 187, 1994

Nathan Glazer, article on controlling immigration (exact citation to come)

II. THE ETHICS OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIONS

November 22: Many Hands

Thompson, "The Moral Responsibility of Many Hands," in Political Ethics and Public Office

Richard Wasserstrom, "Conduct and Responsibility in War," and Kurt Baier, "Guilt and Responsibility," both in Larry May and Stacey Hoffman, eds., Collective Responsibilitv

Barbara Gelb, "The Hard Code of the Superchiefs," New York Times Magazine, October 9,

1983

November 29: Dirty Hands

Michael Walzer, "Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands, " in Marshall Cohen et al., eds., War and Moral Responsibility

Isaiah Berlin, "The Question of Machiavelli," New York Review of Books, Nov. 4, 1971

Thompson, "Democratic Dirty Hands," in Political Ethics and Public Office

William Galston, "The Oligation to Play Political Hardball," Report from the Institute of Philosophy and Public Policy, 1990

"The Malek Manual," in William Richter et al., Combating Corruption: Encouraging Ethics (American Society for Public Administration, 1990)

December 6: Making Good Decisions: The Role of Science in Policymaking

Herrnstein and Murray, The Bell Curve, Preface, Introduction, chapters 46, 9, 11-17, 21, 22, and appendices as needed

December 13: Making Good Decisions: The Role of Institutional Context

Mansbridge, Beyond Adversary Democracy Preface to 1983 edition, Parts 1, III, and IV

Dahl, The New American Political (Dis/Order) chapters by Dahl, Brady, Chamorel, and Citrin