Ethics in Politics

Political figures are leaders in our communities, states and country as a whole. They are held to standards higher than most when it concerns ethics. The people whom they represent place trust in their elected officials to exhibit high levels of moral reasoning in every decision they make. In an ethics case against Tallahassee's mayor, John Marks, the importance of ethical behavior in a public office was clearly visible. 

“The Ethics Commission voted June 15, 2012 to charge Marks with five ethics violations over his votes involving the Alliance for Digital Equality, an Atlanta nonprofit, and the corporate giant Honeywell. Marks voted Sept. 15, 2020 to approve a $1.2 million federal grant involving the city and grant partners ADE and Go Beyond Foundation while he was a paid member of ADE’s board of advisers, " says Jeff Burlew in a Tallahassee Democrat article.

Regardless of the specificity, ethics and politics together are red flags for the public. We immediately have a vested interest in what our leaders are doing when ethics come into play. Even if they are found innocent of the crimes, the association will typically never leave the person's resume.  

Moral reasoning is an important theme in Louis A. Day's book, Ethics in Media Communications. It is the foundation for making ethical decisions. When holding a public office, politicians have think about the decision at hand as well as the public's perception of that decision. What may be completely acceptable outside of politics skates upon a thin line between integrity and dishonesty. There is a greater scrutiny of public officials forcing them to be extremely cautious when dealing with possible ethical issues.

To read the Tallahassee Democrat article, "Settlement unlikely in Marks' case", please visit http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012309130043&nclick_check=1