Ethics and Values

1. Ethics and Values in Public Policy

2. How Should We Decide? • Utilitarianism, deontology, casuistry • Market, politics, experts Mark Carl Rom

3. How Should We Decide? • Utilitarianism • Deontology • Casuistry Mark Carl Rom

4. Utilitarianism • “Greatest good for the greatest number” • “Maximize social efficiency” • “Greatest possible sum of benefits” • Cost benefit analysis • Critique? Mark Carl Rom

5. Deontology • The “categorical imperative” (Kant) • “One should act only on maxims that can be universalized as principles of law without producing a situation that would frustrate the end to which they aim” • “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means” Mark Carl Rom

6. Casuistry • Pragmatism • Works with socially-agreed up on values • Links specific actions and moral principles • Human perceptiveness and discernment • Mediates between competing values and accepts tradeoffs Mark Carl Rom

7. Casuistry • Example: The First Amendment “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech”… • Exceptions? Mark Carl Rom

8. Policy Analysis • What do policy analysts actually do? • Criteria-Alternatives matrix (CAM) • Cost-Benefit analysis • Decision-Tree analysis Mark Carl Rom

9. Criteria-Alternatives Matrix • Specify policy options • Specify criteria for evaluation • Select weights for criteria • Score each option on each criterion • Multiply, sum, and compare options: select the highest score Mark Carl Rom

10. Criteria-Alternatives Matrix Mark Carl Rom

11. Criteria-Alternatives Matrix Mark Carl Rom

12. Criteria-Alternatives Matrix Mark Carl Rom