公共政策 道德為何重要 Why ethics matters

公共政策：道德為何重要

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h2rv

作者：喬納森·波士頓、安德魯·布拉德斯托克和大衛·恩格 2010
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h2rv.3

1. 道德與公共政策（第 1-18 頁）

這本書是關於道德和公共政策的。 這樣的話題立即引發至少三個問題。 首先，什麽是道德？ 第二，什麽是公共政策？ 第三，道德與公共政策如何以及以何種方式聯係在一起？ 毫不奇怪，這三個問題都產生了大量文獻。

簡而言之，道德就是我們應該做什麽或不應該做什麽。 也就是說，它關心什麽是好與壞，什麽是對與錯，什麽是正義與不正義，什麽是高尚與卑鄙，以及我們如何區分。 有許多不同且經常相互競爭的道德框架、理論……

2.正義、人性與審慎（第21-36頁）

本章在論證政策，特別是旨在減少全球貧困的政策的背景下審視正義、人道和審慎的概念，我的意思是赤貧作為一個全球性問題，需要各國政府和國際組織的緊急關注。 我的論點是，有充分的理由不從道德上將這個問題歸為主要的全球正義問題； 然而，也不應被視為主要基於所謂的“人道主義”，該術語與緊急實物援助密切相關。 相反，我建議，我們需要開發並包括......

3. 進行道德政策分析（第 37-54 頁）

在當代社會，經濟和社會進程是由私人、分散的活動與政府活動之間大量複雜而微妙的相互作用決定的。 與對許多專業服務的需求一樣，對政策分析的需求也源於知識差距。 政府決策者，例如內閣部長或議員，不斷麵臨必須找到解決方案的公共問題。 通常，這些決策者會采取新的公共政策或調整當前的政策設置來解決當前的問題。 在政府之外，許多非政府組織的決策者也尋求政策分析。 這些決策者依賴於政策分析......

4. 作為分析師、顧問和倡導者的公務員（第 55-78 頁）

參與政策製定的公務員在威斯敏斯特式的議會民主國家中至少履行三個不同的職能：分析師、顧問和倡導者（參見 Gallagher 1981，第 72-3 頁）。 這些職能不一定按角色或職位來區分，而是與公共政策製定中信息、利益和意識形態之間的相互作用相對應（Weiss 1983）。

本文探討了分析、建議和倡導內部和之間的緊張關係，並建議區分這三個職能，不要將其分開或劃分。 事實上，法律和慣例、道德實踐準則以及公共部門價值觀聲明都鼓勵保持適當的區別……

5. 小心你的願望（第79-98頁）

本章對比了兩種適用於民主政策體係的相互競爭的辦公室道德模型。我讚成的模型是分散道德責任的模型，其中精確的道德內容隨著公職的性質而變化。 我將我反對的模式貼上“隱形倫理”的標簽，因為它通過顛覆民主倫理來促進有道德的公共政策，而民主倫理被認為過於保守。 大多數傳統政策體係的運作方式都介於兩者之間，混合了我所青睞的多元化和我不喜歡的家長式作風。 我的目標是推動政策體係從家長式統治轉向多元化。

6. 關於氣候變化最重要的事情（第101-116頁）

本書的標題——公共政策：道德為何重要——意義重大。 在有關應對氣候變化的公共政策辯論的主角中，許多人認為道德無關緊要。 主角大多是科學家和經濟學家，他們認為不需要道德哲學的貢獻。 他們錯了。

以經濟學家馬丁·韋茨曼（Martin Weitzman）對《斯特恩評論》（Stern 2007）的批評為例。 在將子孫後代的福祉與我們自己的福祉進行比較時，尼古拉斯·斯特恩使用的貼現率比許多經濟學家更低。 這意味著他附加了更多...

7. 承認道德有助於建設性的氣候變化辯論（第 117-140 頁）

與氣候變化相關的公共政策的設計和分析通常不會明確提及道德層麵。 鑒於道德原則通常需要對哪些原則應指導決策進行主觀判斷，因此從政策分析中排除明確的道德可以被視為為公共政策提供更穩健和客觀的基礎。

然而，這在氣候變化的背景下提出了一個困境，公共政策製定的關鍵挑戰之一是實現一個能夠超越選舉周期的框架，並且能夠彌合溫室氣體之間巨大的時間和地理距離……

8. 分擔應對氣候變化的責任：共同但有區別的責任原則解讀（第141-158頁）

根據 2007 年政府間氣候變化專門委員會報告，除非能夠實現全球針對氣候變化的集體行動，否則快速變化的氣候帶來的主要威脅可能會對地球上的所有生命產生災難性影響（IPCC 2007）。 盡管所有主要政府都承認人為排放對導致全球迅速變暖的因果作用，但尚未采取任何行動來減少此類排放。

達成有效的氣候變化國際協議的最大希望是建立在廣泛商定的共同但有區別的責任原則（CBDR）的基礎上，原則...

9.美德與公地（第159-180頁）
許多環 如果每個人都按照自己的“私人”理由行事，那麽所有人都會產生明顯的次優結果。 1 氣候變化問題（Gardiner 2001，2004）、人口快速增長引起的問題（Hardin 1968）、維持漁業的問題（Ludwig et al. 1993），農業和林地利用的一些問題，以及許多其他環境......

第三部分：倫理與經濟視角

10. 解決經濟不平等問題（第 183-200 頁）

2009 年 7 月，《奧塔哥每日時報》商業與貨幣版塊的頭條新聞是“經濟衰退對新西蘭富豪榜的財富造成了損失”（Hartley 2009）。 這個故事不太可能觸動讀者的心弦，但它列出了根據《國家商業評論》編製的數據，在過去 12 個月裏，富豪榜上 155 名上榜者的財富總額如何損失了 57 億美元， 從 2008 年的 444 億美元下降到 2009 年的 387 億美元。似乎沒有人能夠逃脫經濟衰退的摧殘，不是……

11. 道德對於經濟增長重要嗎？ （第 201-226 頁）

過去四十年來，新西蘭的生活水平遠遠落後於澳大利亞。 ……總理闡述了他的願景，即到 2025 年縮小與澳大利亞的差距。我們認同這一願景。 新西蘭擁有巨大的潛力：強大的機構、勤奮而富有創造力的人民、世界首屈一指的信任和誠信程度以及豐富的自然資源。 所以當然可以縮小差距。 但它不會自行關閉。 如果不采取任何行動，差距可能會變得更嚴重，對我國的未來產生越來越嚴重的長期影響。 開始...

12. 金融市場監管：恐慌、道德風險和長期利益

從學術角度來說，本章討論的與最近發生的事件相關的許多研究都處於早期階段並且相對未經測試。 因此，本章既是臨時性的，也是試探性的。

關於最近金融海嘯的原因和應對政策的爭論可能會持續數十年。 在與大蕭條相關的此類問題上仍然存在相當大的分歧。 相比之下，最近事件的關鍵道德點——“貪婪”的破壞性影響——似乎是不言而喻的：金融家的貪婪，投資者的貪婪，也許是 美國消費者。 銀行家...

13. 對無條件公民身份授予的搭便車反對的另一種答複（第257-276頁）
反對無條件福利的一個強有力的反對意見是所謂的“搭便車論”。 這一反對意見是基於正義的考慮。 它告訴我們，有些人從其他人的努力中受益，卻沒有為所有人都受益的共同事業做出貢獻，這是不公平的（Elster 1986）。 這種指責通常是針對左翼自由主義者對基本收入計劃等利益相關提案的辯護，該計劃如果足夠慷慨，可以通過普遍的、無需經濟狀況調查的補助金來大幅放鬆為生計而工作的必要性 。 對無條件福利規定的搭便車反對是這樣的：為什麽應該……

Public Policy: Why ethics matters

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h2rv

BY Jonathan Boston, Andrew Bradstock and David Eng  2010
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h2rv.3

1. Ethics and public policy (pp. 1-18)

This book is about ethics and public policy. Such a topic immediately raises at least three questions. First, what is ethics? Second, what is public policy? And third, how, and in what ways, are ethics and public policy connected? All three questions have, unsurprisingly, generated large literatures.

Put simply, ethics is about what we ought to do or ought not to do. That is, it is concerned with what is good and bad, right and wrong, just and unjust, or noble and ignoble, and how we can tell the difference. There are many different and often competing ethical frameworks, theories,...

2. Justice, humanity, and prudence (pp. 21-36)

This chapter examines the concepts of justice, humanity, and prudence in the context of justifying policies, especially policies aimed at reducing global poverty, by which I mean extreme poverty approached as a global issue and requiring the urgent attention of national governments and international organisations. My thesis is that there are good reasons not to classify this matter morally as primarily a matter of global justice; nor, however, should it be considered as based primarily on what is called ?humanitarianism?, a term that is closely associated with emergency aid in kind. Rather, I suggest, we need to develop and include...

3. Doing ethical policy analysis (pp. 37-54)

In contemporary society, economic and social processes are shaped by vast numbers of complex and subtle interactions between private, decentralised activities and the activities of governments. Like the demand for many professional services, the demand for policy analysis arises from knowledge gaps. Government decision makers, such as cabinet ministers or councillors, continuously confront public problems for which solutions must be found. Typically, those decision makers adopt new public policies or adjust current policy settings to address the problems at hand. Outside of government, decision makers in many non-governmental organisations also seek policy analysis. Such decision makers rely on policy analysis...

4. The public servant as analyst, adviser, and advocate (pp. 55-78)

Public servants involved in policy making fulfil at least three distinct functions within Westminster-style parliamentary democracies: those of analyst, adviser, and advocate (cf. Gallagher 1981, pp. 72–3). These functions are not necessarily distinguished by role or position and correspond to the interplay between information, interests, and ideology in public policy making (Weiss 1983).

This paper explores tensions within and between analysis, advice giving, and advocacy, and proposes that the three functions be distinguished without separation or division. Maintaining appropriate distinctions is, in fact, encouraged in law and by convention, ethical codes of practice, and statements of public sector values....

5. Be careful what you wish for (pp. 79-98)

This chapter contrasts two competing models of an ethics of office suitable for democratic policy systems.¹ The one I favour is a model of dispersed ethical responsibilities where the precise ethical content varies with the nature of the public office. I label the model I oppose ?stealth ethics? because it promotes ethical public policy by subverting democratic ethics, which it sees as too conservative. Most conventional policy systems operate somewhere in-between, with mixtures of my favoured pluralism and my disfavoured paternalism. My aim is to nudge policy systems away from paternalism towards pluralism.

6. The most important thing about climate change (pp. 101-116)

The title of this volume – Public Policy: Why ethics matters – is highly significant. Among the protagonists in the debate about public policy in response to climate change, many think ethics is irrelevant. Most of the protagonists are scientists and economists, and they think they need no contribution from moral philosophy. They are wrong.

Take as an example a criticism directed by the economist Martin Weitzman against The Stern Review (Stern 2007). In comparing the well-being of future generations with our own well-being, Nicholas Stern uses a lower discount rate than many economists do. This means he attaches more...

7. Recognising ethics to help a constructive climate change debate (pp. 117-140)

The design and analysis of public policies related to climate change do not normally make explicit reference to ethical dimensions. Excluding explicit ethics from policy analysis could be seen to provide a more robust and objective basis for public policy, given that ethical principles generally require subjective judgements about which principles should guide decisions. This raises a dilemma in the context of climate change though, where one of the key challenges of public policy making is to achieve a framework that can endure beyond the electoral cycle and that can bridge the large temporal and geographical distances between greenhouse gas...

8. Sharing the responsibility of dealing with climate change: Interpreting the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (pp. 141-158)

According to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, unless global collective action on climate change can be achieved, the major threats posed by a rapidly changing climate are likely to have catastrophic effects for all life on Earth (IPCC 2007). Despite the fact all major governments have acknowledged the causal role of anthropogenic emissions in producing rapid global warming,¹ little action has yet been taken to reduce such emissions.

The best hope for reaching an effective international agreement on climate change is to base it on the widely agreed upon principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), Principle...

9. Virtue and the commons (pp. 159-180)
Many environmental problems have the familiar structure of the dilemmas of the commons (Gardner et al. 1990), where any given individual may have reason to act in ways that result in the group being collectively worse off when everyone else acts in similar ways, so that recognisably suboptimal outcomes are produced for all if each person acts in accord with their ?private? reasons.¹ The climate change problem (Gardiner 2001, 2004), the problems caused by rapid population growth (Hardin 1968), the problems of sustaining fisheries (Ludwig et al. 1993), some problems of agricultural and forest land use, and many other environmental...

Part III: Perspectives on ethics and the economy

10. Tackling economic inequality (pp. 183-200)

?Recession takes its toll on wealth of Kiwi rich list? ran a headline in the Business and Money section of the Otago Daily Times in July 2009 (Hartley 2009). It was a story unlikely to have pulled at readers? heartstrings, yet it listed how, according to figures compiled by the National Business Review, in the preceding 12 months $5.7 billion had been lost from the combined wealth of the 155 entrants on the rich list, a fall from $44.4 billion in 2008 to $38.7 billion for 2009. No one, it seems, managed to escape the ravages of the recession, not...

11. Is ethics important for economic growth? (pp. 201-226)

Over the last four decades, living standards in New Zealand have fallen far behind those in Australia. … The Prime Minister has articulated his vision of closing the gap with Australia by 2025. We share that vision. New Zealand has vast potential: strong institutions, hardworking and creative people, a degree of trust and integrity second to none in the world, and abundant natural resources. So of course the gap can be closed. But it won?t close of its own accord. And if nothing is done the gap could get worse, with increasingly serious long-term implications for our country?s future. Starting...

12. Regulation of financial markets: Panics, moral hazard, and the long-term good 

Much of the research relating to the recent events discussed in this chapter is – in academic terms – at an early stage and relatively untested. Hence, this chapter is both provisional and tentative.

Debate over the causes of the recent financial tsunami and the policies to deal with it will probably continue for decades. There is still considerable disagreement over such matters in relation to the Great Depression.¹ By contrast, the key moral point from recent events – the devastating effects of ?greed? – might seem self-evident: greed of financiers, greed of investors, perhaps greed of US consumers. Bankers...

13. An alternative reply to the free-rider objection against unconditional citizenship grants (pp. 257-276)
A powerful objection against unconditional welfare benefits is the so-called ?free-rider argument?. This objection is based on considerations of justice. It tells us that it is unjust that some people benefit from the efforts of others without contributing to the common enterprise from which all stand to gain (Elster 1986). This line of accusation is usually directed to left-libertarian defences of stake-holding proposals such as the basic income scheme, which, if sufficiently generous, could substantially relax the necessity to work for a livelihood through a universal, non-means-tested grant. The free-rider objection against unconditional welfare provisions reads like this: why should...