Northouse (2013) defines ethics as “the kinds of values and morals an individual or a society finds desirable or appropriate. Furthermore, ethics is concerned with the virtuousness of individuals and their motives” (p. 424). While reading what he has to say about ethics I couldn’t help but think about how there seems to be a severe lack of ethics in politics today. I’m not sure if it is more prevalent than in the past but with today’s 24/7 news cycle it gets reported on more frequently than it used to.
Just yesterday on the news there were two stories of politicians that had to make apologies for unethical behavior. Anthony Weiner for a sexting scandal that caused his resignation from Congress and now may derail his mayoral race for New York City and Mayor Bob Filner of San Diego who has been hit with a sexual harassment suit from a former aide. It seems like every few week we hear of a scandal involving an elected official. In many cases it seems the public just brushes them off. In the case of Mark Sanford the Governor of South Carolina who was caught cheating on his wife while he was supposedly hiking on the Appalachian Trail was reelected to his old congressional seat this year.
Northouse (2013) states that “ethics is central to leadership, and leaders help to establish and reinforce organizational values” (p. 428). If that is the case it seems that politics today runs counter to the theories that he discuses and that strong ethics are not always required in today’s political theater. I’m not sure why that is the case. It may be that people are numb from today’s 24/7 news cycle or that society is less ethically inclined then it used to be or that the political process is so partisan that voters will cast a ballot for anyone who is the party they support no matter what they have done that may be ethically questionable.
Northouse (2013) also discusses the five principles of ethical leadership which go back to the time of Aristotle. They are ethical leaders respect others, ethical leaders serve others, ethical leaders are just, ethical leaders are honest, and ethical leaders build community (pp. 430-436). It seems that some of today’s political leaders can break some if not all of these principles and retain their government position pr even get elected or reelected. This seems to be counter to how leadership should work. If you cheat on your wife, sexually harass employees or break the publics trust as so many of today’s politicians have there should be some consequences.
Northouse (2013) suggests “there is a high demand for moral leadership in our society today” (p. 437) and specifically points to political figures of the recent past. In my opinion the demand doesn’t seem to be that great or many of today’s politicians would be out on their ear. It seems to me that politics seems to be the place to go if you have low ethical standards.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
KATY MILLER says
I am totally in agreement with your points in this entry. Sometimes I feel that I have lost faith in politics altogether. How can we trust politicians if they are unable to stop sending vulgar text messages that cause harassment cases? These people are supposed to be ideals and models for the rest of us. I do not find anything idealistic about the behavior mentioned in this entry. Some of it may just be that it is much easier to get media attention nowadays. There have been many presidents who were cheating on their wives. In the past, people just did not know about it or it was kept out of view. I feel that the life of a politician is probably stressful and they are in constant view of the public. In a way, we can compare them to celebrities. Every celebrity with any amount of fame has horrible things written in the press about their lives monthly. There is part of the American populous that likes to feel that politicians and celebrities are normal people like us who make mistakes. Unfortunately, their mistakes cost them their jobs or fame. How can we improve this situation if it appears so frequently in politicians? Is it just the type of people that are attracted to the position or does the position cause their erratic behavior?