Why this book?
- Brings together the views of leading contemporary moral philosophers and political theorists on the ethics of political action in a single volume.
- Engages with the concrete, practical problems of politics — deception, lobbying, political corruption, and the ethics of leadership — rather than settling for abstract discussion alone.
- Examines conflicts of interest in political ethical decision-making and the problem of dirty hands in governance.
- Offers a deep, critical reflection on the moral foundations of political order, suited to students and researchers in political science, philosophy, law, and sociology.
- Serves as a practical guide for engaged, responsible actors in politics and society to analyze and critique political events on ethical grounds.
About the book
Political Ethics: A Handbook, edited by Edward Hall and Andrew Sabl, is a collection that critically examines the ethical challenges present in the most important domains of political life. The work is the product of collaboration among some of the foremost contemporary moral philosophers and political theorists, who set out to answer a fundamental question: how can one act ethically in a world of politics so often marked by conflicting interests and morally difficult decisions?
The book's aim is to move abstract concepts out of the realm of theory and into the heart of real decisions, introducing readers to a wide range of ethical issues in politics — including politicians' right to deceive and lie, lobbying, political corruption, the ethics of leadership and governance, party ethics, and the problem of dirty hands. The collection offers a deep, critical reflection on the moral foundations of political order for students and researchers in political science, philosophy, law, sociology, and public administration.
Reading this book is an essential step toward becoming an informed analyst and a responsible actor in politics and society, able to apply moral foundations to conduct and to the critique and analysis of political events. The Persian translation, by Seyyed Hossein Athari and Seyyed Hashem Moniri, was published by Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
From the table of contents
- 1Chapter 1: Lying and Deception
- 2Chapter 2: Compromise and Accommodation
- 3Chapter 3: Honesty and Moral Integrity in Politics
- 4Chapter 4: The Ethics of Representation
- 5Chapter 5: Leadership and Representation
- 6Chapter 6: The Ethics of Partisanship
- 7Chapter 7: The Ethics of Public Administration, or Ethics for Civil Servants
- 8Chapter 8: Political Corruption
- 9Chapter 9: Public and Government Ethics, Whistleblowing and Exposure
- 10Chapter 10: Political Ethics in Emergency Situations
- 11Chapter 11: The Ethics of Political Lobbying: Power, Influence, and Democratic Decline
- 12Afterword: Political Ethics and Institutional Renewal