Ethics and Public Policy

Course goals

After completion the student:
•        is able to relate public policy to discussions in political philosophy, especially with regard to legitimacy and democracy, institutions and individual liberty.
•        is able to identify moral issues that policymakers may face in drafting and executing public policy, especially with regard, public safety, the use of evidence and the creation of public goods.
•        can analyse these moral issues combining theoretical knowledge and practical contexts.
•        is sensitive to dynamics in administrative contexts of governance and is able to make ethical analysis beneficial to these contexts.
 
 

Content

• What defines public policy, who develops public policy and in what way is it related to the institutions of politics and representation?
• What are legitimate grounds for public policy and thus for state intervention? What is the normative structure of public policy and how (where) do  ethics and ethical judgement play a role?
• What is the role of individual autonomy? How is respect for autonomy related to the de facto capacity of citizens for rational choice serving their self-interest? Is government in a position to know better (or to act on this without ulterior motives)? Where is the dividing line between the fundamental rights of the individual and those of his neighbours (and thus of society)?
• What is the philosophical basis of  public policy? What is the role of scientific advice in making policy decisions? How can we open up policy making  to strategic and future-oriented thinking? What is the specific political entity whose interests should be served by this; is this defined regionally, nationally or even on a global scale? In what cases, and why?
• What is the importance of context? What happens when a societal issue is translated into a policy problem? And when a policy problem is translated into a factual or normative question? Or vice versa, when a factual or normative claim is translated into a policy advice? Or when policy tries to solve a societal issue?

 

Additional information

Career orientation

Students will get acquainted with policy oriented careers in practical philosophy.