YES, NO, MAYBE SO ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF LEGISLATURES: Why do legislative ethics matter?

• Author: Birdsong, Nicholas

Years ago as an intern at a campus law office, part of my job was working a table during orientation for new students. I explained to incoming freshmen and their parents that our office could help them decipher employment contracts, get security deposits back from landlords, file taxes, and just about everything in between. All of it was free. Despite that, roughly a third of parents made the same joke: "My kid better not have to see you!"

Legal services and ethics share this tendency to be viewed too narrowly. Lawyers come in handy for more than getting people out of trouble, just as ethics is more than an abstract study of hypothetical moral dilemmas.

Ethical values form the basis for practically every decision. For example, a legislator may support a bill based on the belief that its enactment would result in a stronger economy. The view of a strong economy as "good" is a type of ethical determination. Value judgments, such as crime is bad or public health is good, underlie practically all policymaking.

Examining the consequences of an act is one of two major branches of ethical analysis. The other branch considers the act itself. To understand this distinction, imagine that a legislator accepts a bribe to vote for a bill that strengthens the economy. The legislator may be ethical from a purely consequence-focused perspective because the corrupt vote results in a good law. Legislative ethics rules look at public officials' motivations and behaviors, however, and in this case, when those are considered, the legislator's act would universally be considered unethical.

Getting back to the question of why ethics in government matters, the answer depends partially upon who is asking. Members of the public, legislators and the legislature as an entity all benefit from ethics rules in different ways.

Average citizens tend to suffer the most in the absence of ethical governance. Consider again the hypothetical of a corrupt lawmaker paid to support good legislation. Policies contrary to the public interest would be more likely to require inducement, not good legislation. Research correlates rampant corruption with increased costs for goods and services, infrastructure deterioration, severe pollution...