Chapter One

Understanding Civics, Ethics and Morality

1.1 Defining Civics, Ethics, Morality & Amorality

Human being is a political, social and moral animal who couldn’t live alone
or secluded b/s of that they have to respect certain fundamental principles
and values to live together with their fellow beings. Consequently, such life
could be achieved and become peaceful in society and lead to prosperous
whenever ethical values are commonly adhered to.
 Contd…
Civics, is a study/discipline dealing with citizens all aspects of
(political,economic,social and cultural spheres) and became study of theoretical
and practical aspects of citizenship specifically about their rights and duties
(whenever claiming their privileges and also discharging their responsibilities).
It also studies the relationship between an individual and state defined by the law
of that state.
Ethics, is a branches of philosophy tasked with the morality of human actions
and provides rules for the determination of such actions which are right from
wrong . Ethics is a study while moral is its subject matter to be studied. Ethics
considers theories about what human beings are capable of doing, alongside
accounts of what they ought to do if they are to live in a morally framed good
life.
 Contd…
As a principle , ethics permits the performance of certain action judged to be
moral or right , while at the same time condemning and restraining from
performing those actions judged to be wrong and amoral. Amoral is outside
scope of morality/without moral standards not concerned with or amenable to
moral judgments or not caring about good behavior or morals (disapproving).
Ethics is a wide field concerned with the behavior of man in society. Man ought
to behave this way or that way but he behaves otherwise. Ethics is therefore
concerned with this deviation for the purposes of condemnation or justification.
Contd….
1.2 Origin and Development of Civics, and Ethical Education.
J.S.Mill have described it, progressive and peaceful setting subsists
in a given society as far as that society develops the qualities of its
members and generates good citizens( blessed over curse, blamed
over justified).
Aristotle himself also notified that citizens of a State should
always be educated to suit the constitution of a State and help in
creating a good citizen it has became the prior concern of many
States, including Ethiopia. This is because good citizens are made
not born. How is it so ?
Contd…
Different terms have been used to capture and describe civic
educational taught to show task of developing democratic minded
citizens. The subject has assumed different names and purposes
depending on countries’ ideologies and thus why the definition of the
discipline vary across States. Terms (Rights Education (in S.Africa),
Citizenship Education (in USA and Germany), Citizenship and
Character Education (in Singapore), Civics and Ethical Education
(in Ethiopia) are just a few examples.
The most cited definition of civic education is a discipline that studies
about the rights and responsibilities of citizens of a politically
organized group of people( refers to privileges and duties)
Contd…
Different writers and institutions defined civics in many ways. Patrick defines civic
education as the knowledge of the constitutions, the principles, values, history and
application to contemporary life.
Citizenship education can be understood as the knowledge, means, and activities
designed to encourage students to participate actively in democratic life, accepting
and exercising their rights and responsibilities.
Aggarwal has linked civic education to the development of ideas, habits, behaviors
and useful attitudes in the individual which enables him to be a useful member of
the society. Still civic education can be also defined as the process of helping young
people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will
prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives.
(UNDP, 2004) defines it as a way of learning for effective participation in a
democratic and development process.
Contd…
Definition and Nature of Ethics and Morality
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to understand people’s
moral beliefs and actions (we use the terms, ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’;
‘ethical’ and ‘moral’ interchangeably, although traditionally ‘ethics’
described the process of thinking about people’s morality).
Ethics, or moral philosophy, considers theories about what human
beings are capable of doing, alongside accounts of what they ought to do
if they are to live in an ethically good life. Ethics also explores and
evaluate the ranking of different ethical values, such as honesty,
autonomy, equality and justice, and it considers ethical
quandaries(suspicions) that human beings face in the course of living
their own independent life and their social interdependent lives.
Contd…
• Ethics shares common ground with the law, religious belief,
popular opinion, professional codes and the dictates of authority
figures.
• Ethics is broader than all of these and offers a set of tools and
values against which their appropriateness can be evaluated.
• Invariably all ethical questions involve a decision about what one
should do in a specific instance than what one would do
( psychological concern) but what one ought to do. Judgments
about such decisions are generally expressed with words like right
and wrong, should and ought, or obligation and duty.
Contd…
Occasionally the term ethics is used interchangeably with morals.
Business or medical ethics, generally is synonymous with morals. A
precise usage would apply the term’s morals and moral to the conduct
itself, while the terms ethics and ethical would refer to the study of
moral conduct or to the code that one follows.
When speaking of moral problems, we generally refer to specific
problems, like: “Is lying ever right?” or “Is stealing always wrong?”
in contrast, we can look at ethical problems as being more general and
theoretical. Thus, “what makes any act, such as lying or stealing,
right or wrong?” and “what makes any entity good?” are ethical
problems. In short, morality refers to the degree to which an action
conforms to a standard or norm of human conduct. Ethics then refers to
the study of values and of what constitute good and bad human
conduct(this constitutes, it happens science).
Contd…

From the human conduct perspective of obligation and value,

ethics investigates a variety of related concerns of whether a
standard of morality exists that applies to all people at all
times everywhere, the precise nature of moral
responsibility, the conditions under which one is morally
accountable or responsible, and the proper end of law.
When ethicists use words like “good” or “right” to describe a
person or action they generally means that the person or action
conforms to some standard or a certain desirable qualities.
Contd…
Ethicists often disagree about the nature of those standards and desirable
qualities and follow different paths in establishing standards and
discovering which qualities are desirable. For purposes of understanding, ethics
as divided into two fields; normative ethics and non-normative ethics.
Generally, Ethics is:
1. The critical examination and evaluation of what is good, evil, right and
wrong in human conduct (Guy, 2001).
2. A specific set of principles, values and guidelines for a particular group or
organization (Guy, 2001).
3. Ethics is the study of goodness, right action and moral responsibility, it asks
what choices and ends we ought to pursue and what moral principles should
govern our pursuits and choices (Madden, 2000).
Contd…
What is Morality?
Though Morality is a complex concept, it is one of that frequently used terms, to mean
different things to different people. Morality is a commonly used word in most cultures. In a
crucial way, we do not know what morality is. Morality has a prime importance and must be
learned. Moreover, teaching morality must not be brainwashing; it must be moral.
Morality has different dimensions. In its simple definition of a dictionary definition (from
Latin moralitas “manner, character, proper behavior”) which refers to the concept of human
action which pertains to matters of right and wrong as well as “good and evil”. It can be
used to mean the generally accepted code of conduct and action in a society, or within a
subgroup of society. It relates to values expressed as: a matter of individual choice, those
values to which we ought to aspire and those values shared within a culture, religious,
secular, or philosophical community. This definition is clear when morality is spelt out and
agreed upon by others. However, it becomes ambiguous when defined by different ethnic
groups, especially in the multicultural society, like Ethiopians (relativity and universality).
Contd…
Morality has been a topic of discussion for a very long time. According
to Socrates “We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to
live” when issues of morality are discussed. In fact, moral philosophy
is an attempt to achieve a systematic understanding of the nature of
morality and what it requires of us. In Socrates’ words it’s “how we
ought to live”. Living in a multicultural Ethiopia, how we ought to
live can be very complicated because of the diversity of culture that
is vast and unique. Morality, at its very least is, an effort to guide
one’s conduct by reason that is, to do what there are the best reasons for
doing while giving equal weight to the interest of each individual who
will be affected by one’s conduct. It is important that in a country like
Ethiopia, morality is shared as a common goal to ensure harmony and
integrity.
Contd…
Morality, whatever else may be said about it, is about things over which we
have control that lead to “bettering human life”. It is different in every
society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits.
Morality is:
1. Those principles and values that actually guide, for better or worse, an
individual’s personal conduct (Guy, 2001)
2. Morality is the informal system of rational beings by which they govern
their behavior in order to lessen harm or evil and do good, this system,
although informal, enjoys amazing agreement across time and cultures
concerning moral rules, moral ideas and moral virtues (Madden, 2000)
AMORAL.....one who doesn’t care whether moral or immoral(moral
Laissez-faire .
Contd…
Ethics Morality
Is philosophical study of the code, standards or norm of human conduct refers to the code of conduct one follows while ethics is
and it is more theoretical and general one. the study of moral conduct or  the study of the code that
one follows

Ethics establish the standards, norms, or codes to be followed by is the conformity of human behavior to the established
human beings are the study of morality, moral principles, and moral code of conduct .If an action conform to the established
decision making. code, it is called moral ,if not immoral

Is the development of reasonable standards and procedures for ethical refers to the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason
decision-making? while giving equal weight to the interests of each
individual who will be affected by one’s conduct

Is a set of normative rules of conduct, a code, a standards that govern Has to do with what one should do, all things
what one ought to do when the well-being, or duties to oneself, others or considered, not what, in fact, any of us will so in a
institutions is at stake. particular instance
Contd…
Relationships between Morality / Ethicality and Law
Being against morals and ethics, laws are norms, formally approved by state,
power or national or international political bodies. Many laws are instituted in
order to promote well-being, resolve conflicts of interest, and promote social
harmony. Why ethics is not law? First, some actions that are illegal may not
be unethical. Speedily riding is illegal, but have an ethical obligation to break
the speed limit to transport someone to a hospital for emergency. Second, some
actions that are unethical may not be illegal. It would be agreeable, lying is
unethical but lying is only illegal under certain conditions, e.g. lying on an
income tax, lying when giving sworn testimony, etc. Third, laws can be unethical
or immoral whenever, they are repressive. Citizens have moral and ethical
obligations to obey the law, yet civil disobedience can be justified when
immoral or unethical laws exist (dictators subdue their rights by force ).
Contd…
Fourth, we use different kinds of mechanisms to express, teach, inculcate,
and enforce laws and ethics. Laws are expressed publicly in statutes, penal
codes, court rulings, government regulations, and so forth. Although ethics
and morals are sometimes made explicit in religious texts, professional
codes of conduct, or philosophical writings, many ethical and moral
standards are implicit.
Finally, we use the coercive power of government to enforce laws. Citizens
who break certain laws may be convicted guilty of, then they can be
imprisoned, or executed. People who violate ethical or moral standards do
not face these kinds of punishments unless their actions also violate laws.
Often we “punish” people who disobey moral or ethical obligations by simply
expressing our disapproval or by condemning as well as ostracize/exclude or
banish them for their unethical behaviour exhibited.
 Contd…
Importance/Goal of Moral and Citizenship Education
Civic education is a discipline that deals with virtue traits rooted in
values of respect and culture of tolerance to make individuals
responsible and efficient member of their community. It teaches the
values and sense of commitment that define an active and principled
citizen, who make responsible decisions, solve problems, care about
others, contribute to society, and be tolerant and respectful of diversity.
In Ethiopia, civics and ethics/moral education is given with the aim of
educating students about democratic culture, ethical/moral values and
principles, and who respect supremacy of constitution, the rule of law,
rights and duties of citizens.
Contd…
Generally, the necessity of delivering the course emanates from:
1) It install citizens about their rights and duties: Rights and
duties co-exist with each other (seen as the two sides of the same
coin) that regulate the values and behavioural patterns of an
individual. The State has the obligation to provide health care other
social and economic services because citizens have the right to
access that service (Positive) However, the State will be unable to
ensure that citizens led a healthy life unless citizens themselves act
responsibly with respect to their own health care, in terms of a
healthy diet, exercise, rather than consumption of liquor and
tobacco.
Contd…
Major Interplays Between Rights And Duties:
First, one's right implies the other's duty. This means every right of an individual
automatically imposes a duty on others.
Second, one's right implies one's duty to recognize similar rights of others. This
implies that every exercise of right is subject to restrictions.
Third, one should exercise his rights for the promotion of social good. If any
person tries to misuse the rights, which affect the rights of others or of the society
or state, the Government has a duty to take appropriate legal action to prevent such
acts.
Fourth, the State being a nucleus organ needs to take care of the social and legal
interests of all its citizens. From this point of view, the State has the obligation to
discharge duties towards its citizens (restrictions may be imposed)
Contd…
2) The Need for Participant Political Culture: Political culture is a set of
attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give order and meaning to a political
process. It provides the underlying assumptions and rules that govern their
behaviour in the political system. Political culture shapes people’s desire of
political system, and possibilities they see for their own action, and rights and
responsibilities of various actors in it. Generally, political culture defines the
roles which individuals and groups may play in the political process.
3) The Need for Relevant Knowledge, Skills and Positive Attitudes:
Relevant knowledge is a type of skill and cognition which is useful in dealing
with a particular problem at a period of time. However, knowledge would
remain inert(unable) knowledge unless it is functional or put into practice to
achieve a certain goal.
Contd…
4) The issue of fostering intercultural societies:
The recognition of cultural diversity is certainly meritorious, but civics
and ethical education could move a step forward by appealing to the
notion of inter-culturalism, which explicitly asserts the need for
relationship, dialogue, reciprocity and interdependence.
The issue of inclusiveness: a universal concept of citizenship
constructed on the attributes and practices of male centred, relations
and private sphere have to be neglected. Civics and ethics is taught to
nurture new and inclusive relations and practices in both public and
private spaces that recognize gender differences while ensuring
inclusiveness and equity.
Contd…
5) The issue of peace-building: In an environment of increased
militarization, terrorism, civil wars and genocidal acts, needs urgent
citizenship education to advance strategies to promote cooperation,
dialogue, and a sustainable peace that is based on justice for more
peaceful situations. This includes the development of competencies for
peace-making, conflict resolution, healing, reconciliation and
reconstruction. It also includes an understanding of nonviolent civil
disobedience philosophies, strategies and skills.
The aim of moral/ethical and civic education is to provide people to
make decisions by their free wills. You can teach norms easily, but you
cannot teach easily to obey these rules unless you teach ethics.
Contd…
Therefore, teaching ethics has an important and necessary place in
education. Graduated people from universities may be well educated
persons in their professions but it is not enough. Aristotle also says,
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is not education
at all.” Citizenship and Moral Education is based on and seeks to
promote in students core democratic values and principles, as well as
moral, and ethical values, like:
Respect for life
Respect for reasoning
Fairness
 Concern for the welfare of others
 Respect for diversity
 Contd…
1.3 Approaches to Morality / Ethics
Human beings ask questions about nature of morality. In the process of
prescriptive inquiry, we employ a specific vocabulary. We also invoke
theories to explain the nature of morality. All moral theories address the
questions of what is Good, why it’s Good, and where the Good is located?
1.3.1 Normative ethics (prescriptive ethics) is a theory of obligations
that guide us in the making of decisions and judgments about actions in
particular situations It offers or accounts of the best way to live and
evaluate actions in a systematic way, i.e., may focus on outcomes or
duties or motivation as a means of justifying human conducts.
Contd…
Normative Ethics:
 is a theory of obligations that guide us in the making of decisions
and judgments about actions in particular situations;
• Offers theories or accounts of the best way to live and evaluate
actions in a systematic way, i.e., they may focus on outcomes or duties
or motivation as a means of justifying human conduct.
• Includes ethical theories or approaches such as utilitarianism,
deontology, virtue ethics, principles, narrative ethics and feminist
ethics.
Contd…
Normative ethics poses questions like :
Are there general principles or rules that we could follow which
distinguish between right and wrong? Or:
Are there virtues and/or relationships that we can nurture, in order to
behave well?
Teleological Ethics (Consequentialist) ….the end justifies the means
It believes in purpose, ends or goals of an action, it stress that the
consequences of an action determines the morality or immorality of a
given action…. Which means an action is judged as right or wrong, moral
or immoral depending on what happens because of it.
Contd…
A teleological theory says that the basic or ultimate criterion or standard
of what is morally right, wrong, obligatory, etc., is the non-moral value
that is brought into being. The final appeal, directly or indirectly, must be
to the comparative amount of good produced, or rather to the comparative
balance of good over evil. Thus, an act is right if and only if it or the rule
under which it falls produces, will probably produce, or is intended to
produce at least as great a balance of good over evil as any available
alternative; an act is wrong if and only if it does not do so.
An act ought to be done if and only if it or the rule under which it falls
produces, will probably produce, or is intended to produce a greater
balance of good over evil than any available alternative
 Conted…

Teleology considers a moral quality or value of actions depend to hold various

views about what is good and have often been hedonists, identifying the good with
pleasure and evil with pain, and concluding that the right course or rule of action is
that which produces at least as great a balance of pleasure over pain as any
alternative.
1.3.1.2 Deontological(non-Consequentialist/Existentialism)coined as “deontics”
It is an emphasis on the intentions, motives, moral principles or performance of
duty rather than results, as the sign of right action/morality and immorality. It is a
duty based and according to this theory, the consequences or results of our action
have nothing to do with their rightness or wrongness without their duties.
 Contd…
1.3.1.3 Virtue Ethics: ‘Virtus’ is to be understood as strength of character which
prescribes how we ought to live is much more adequately answered by a virtue-
based theory than in terms of calculating consequences or obeying rules.
Virtues are attitudes or character that enables us to be and to act in ways that develop
our highest potential. It is to pursue the ideals we have adopted as: Honesty, courage,
compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, and prudence are verities of virtues
taken as habits; once acquired, and become characteristic of a person.
Challenging the adequacy of rule-based theories and virtue ethicist will emphasize the
fact that providing help would be charitable or benevolent – charity and benevolence
being virtues.
The Good Character
People have a natural capacity for good character, and it is developed
through practice. The capacity does not come first--it's developed
through practice.
Arête is a disposition developed out of a capacity by the proper
exercise of that capacity. Habits are developed through ting; a person's
character is the structure of habits and is formed by what we do.
 Contd..

•Virtue, arête, or excellence is defined as a mean between two extremes of excess and
defect in regard to a feeling or action as the practically wise person would determine. it.
In the Ontological dimension, virtue is a mean; in the Axiological dimension, it is an
extreme or excellence. Pleasure and pain are powerful determinants of our actions.
• Eg. Hartmann's Diagram:

.
Contd…
1.3.2 Non-Normative Ethics/Meta-ethics
Normative ethics seeks to discover the general principles underlying
moral practice, and in this way potential impact upon practical moral
problems: different general principles may yield different verdicts in
particular cases. we also look for some insight into why the right answer
is right and wrong is wrong too?
1.3.2.1 Meta-ethics (analytic ethics) is not about what people ought to
do, but it is about what they are doing when they talk about what they
ought to do(practice than only theory or doctrine). Meta-thics can be
defined in terms of the answers they give to these sorts of question.
 Contd…
1.3.2.2 Absolutism (Objectivism )
Proponents of this view typically hold that moral values are objective in
the sense that they exist in a spirit-like realm beyond subjective human
conventions. Moral values are absolute, or eternal, in that they never
change, and also that they are universal insofar as they apply to all
rational creatures around the world and throughout time.
Moral values are considered absolute truths and thus are also abstract,
spirit-like entities. In this sense, for Plato, moral values are spiritual
objects. Medieval philosophers commonly grouped all moral principles
together under the heading of “eternal law” which were also frequently
seen as spirit-like objects.
 Contd…
1.3.2.2 Relativism (Subjectivism)
The second and more worldly approach to the metaphysical status of morality is the skeptical
philosophical tradition, that denies the objective status of moral values. Technically, skeptics did
not reject moral values themselves, but only denied that values exist as spirit-like objects, or as
divine commands. Moral values, they argued for, are strictly human inventions, a position that has
since been called moral relativism. There are two distinct forms of moral relativism.
The first is individual relativism, holds that individual people create their own moral standards.
Here it is argued that the superhuman creates his or her morality distinct from and in reaction to the
slave-like value system of the masses.
The second is cultural relativism which maintains that morality is grounded in the approval of
one’s society and not simply in the preferences of individual people.. Metaphysical status of
morality deny the absolute and universal nature of morality and hold instead that moral values
in fact change from society to society throughout time and place throughout the world.
 Contd…
Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism
Meta-ethical theories are moral realism, non-cognitivism, error-theory and
moral anti-realism.
Cognitivism: An acquisition of a moral judgement that can be expressed by
the use of reasoning, intuition, or perception or belief . Beliefs can be true or
false: they are truth-apt, or apt to be assessed in terms of truth and falsity. So
cognitivists think that moral judgements are capable of being true or false.
Non-Cognitivism: moral judgements express non-cognitive states such as
emotions or desires. Desires and emotions are not truth-apt. So moral
judgements are not capable of being true or false.
 Contd…
1.3.3 Issues in Applied Ethics
Applied ethics is the branch of ethics that consists analysis of specific,
controversial moral issues.Recentiy. applied ethical issues have been
subdivided into convenient groups of (Developmental, Environmental
and Professional ethics). Although all of these issues are
controversial and have an important impact on society, they are
not all moral issues. Some are only issues of social policy. The
aim of social policy is to help make a given society run efficiently
by devising conventions, such as traffic laws, tax laws, and
zoning.
 Contd…

1.3.3.1 Developmental Ethics

Development has been perceived as a straightforward economic issue.
Economists, policy makers, governors, interregional organizations and
so on, confront the problem of underdevelopment in an instrumental and
administrational way. At the same time, within developed countries, new
problems come to the fore, with massive consumption on the one side
and new massive social groups under the poverty line on the other.
Moreover on an international scale, even in cases that development in
terms of growth or industrial expansion has taken place as when
ecological destruction is huge in industrial nations . Hence, development
should be re-examined under considerations that arose from the ethical
question of ‘development for what?’
 Contd…
• For development ethicists the true indicator of development is the
qualitative enrichment of human beings in all relevant aspects of
human life. Development ethics aspires to show the road towards a
new development paradigm in light of fundamental ethical queries
on the meaning of the good life the foundation of justice in society
and the human stance towards nature. The study of development
ethics discuss and codify those ethical quires borrowing scientific
instruments from economists, political studies, anthropologists,
philosophy, environmental scientists and others. Thus, it can be
characterized as an interdisciplinary area.
 Contd…
• Development ethics can be considered, in one sense, as a field of attention,
an agenda of questions about major value choices involved in processes of
social and economic development.
• Each area of practice generates ethical questions about priorities and
procedures, rights and responsibilities in the development. In this case the
questions include: What is good or ‘real’ development? What is the good
life which development policy should seek to facilitate, what really are
benefits? How are those benefits and corresponding costs to be shared,
within the present generation and between generations? Who decides and
how? What rights of individuals should be respected and guaranteed?
 Contd…
• Development ethics is a field of enquiry that reflects on both the ends
and the means of economic development. It takes a normative stance
asking and answering questions about the nature of ethically desirable
development, what ethics means for achieving development, and
discusses various ethical dilemmas that the practice of development
has led to. In short its aim is to ensure that value issues are an
important part of the discourse of development.
 Contd…
1.3.3.2 Environmental ethics: By environment, we mean our
surroundings, including the life support provided by the air, water, land,
animals and the entire ecosystem of which man is but a part. Ethics has
something meaningful to do with the environment. It questions
humanity’s relationship to the environment, its understanding of and
responsibility to nature, and its obligations to leave some of nature’s
resources to prosperity. Environmental ethics is a field in applied ethics
that asks fundamental questions about humans and the environment; it
examines the moral basis of environmental responsibility. Humans are
the only self-reflective, deliberative moral agents.
 Contd…
• Nature has equipped Homo sapiens, the wise species, with a conscience.
Perhaps conscience is less wisely used than it ought to be when, as in
classical enlightenment ethics; it excludes the global community of life
from consideration, with the resulting paradox that the self-consciously
moral species acts only in its collective self-interest toward all the rest.
Environmental ethics claims that we humans are not so 'enlightened' as
once supposed, not until we reach a more considerate ethic.
• Environmental ethics applies ethics to the environment, analogously to
ethics applied to business, medicine, engineering, Law and technology.
 Contd…
• Humanist applications may be challenging: limiting population growth
or development, questioning consumerism and the distribution of
wealth, advocating the inclusion of women or aboriginal peoples, or
fearing global warming.
• Environmental quality is necessary for quality of human life. Humans
dramatically rebuild their environments; still, their lives filled with
artifacts, are lived in a natural ecology where resources—soil, air, water,
photosynthesis, and climate—are matters of life and death. Culture and
nature have entwined destinies, similar to (and related to) the way minds
are inseparable from bodies. So ethics needs to be applied to the
environment.
 Contd…
• Environmental ethics is theory and practice about appropriate concern
for, values in, and duties regarding the natural world. By classical accounts,
ethics is people relating to people in justice and love. Environmental ethics.
• Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which
considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely
including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on
a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental
sociology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography.
Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral
relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of,
the environment and its nonhuman contents.
 Contd…
1.3.3.3 Professional Ethics : become a very popular term in almost
all world countries/societies including Ethiopia due to new
developments in the relations between citizens and government and
the high demand of specialization among different activities. Then
what is profession? What is professionalism? Who is a professional?
Profession refers to the knowledge, skill, and ability, which can be
acquired through formal educational institutions such as universities,
colleges and training centers that are filed by those persons who
possess such knowledge and skills in any field of study.
 Contd…
• Professionalism means behaving in an ethical manner while assuming
and fulfilling your rightful responsibilities in every situation every time,
without fail. It means, conducting your affairs in such a way as to
engender trust and confidence in every aspect of your work. It means
having the requisite ability to be worthy of the confidence others place in
you.
• Characteristics of a profession: Profession generally can be defined as
a systematic way of acquiring and continuous development of Personality
and balanced combination of:
1. Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge: Extensive training takes
a long period. This training must be in a particular field of extensive
training must involve significant intellectual component.
 Contd…
• Such training must enrich mental faculties of the trainee. It also requires
caliber to undergo such training. Training for drivers, mechanics,
carpenters etc does not involve intellectual component. It involves
physical skills. On the other hand, training of teachers, accountants, and
lawyers involves intellectual component of tasks or skills.
2. Merit-based: In a profession, members achieve employment and
success based on merit and corresponding voluntary relationships rather
than on corrupted ideals such as social principle, mandated support, or
extortion. Therefore, a professional is one who must attract clients and
profits due to the merits of his work.
 Contd…
3. Practical: A profession should be practical. That is, a professional
person must change the knowledge and skills to practical and tangible
way of line.
4. Ethical constraints: There is a clear requirement for ethical constraints
in the professions. Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or ethics
specific to the distinct profession (and sometimes the individual).
5. Great responsibility: Professionals deal in matters of vital importance
to their clients and are therefore entrusted with grave responsibilities and
obligations. An inherent obligations, professional work typically involves
circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or breach of ethics
would be significantly damaging to the client and/or his fortunes.
 Contd…
6. Prestige: Is a degree of esteem and the professional it incorporates: a body of
knowledge that includes general, specialized, and professional knowledge. A
body of skills, which includes science of its own. The responsibilities inherent to
the practice of a profession are impossible to rationally maintain without a moral
foundation that flows from a recognition of the singular right of the individual to
his own life, along with all its inherent and potential sovereign value;
7. Autonomy: Professionals have control over and, correspondingly, ultimate
responsibility for their own work. Professionals tend to define the terms,
processes, and conditions of work to be performed for clients
8. Decision making: this feature follows from the above because every service
delivered to the people is directly or indirectly a decision made by a professional.
Contd…
9. Complementarities: Specialty and particularity cannot be the end points of a
profession in this dynamic and interconnected world; requiring vast knowledge and
skill in order to resolve a long list of social problems widening ever and ever. As
such, there can never be an encyclopedic type of profession which contains all
needed professional services by the people.
• Professional ethics can be generally defined as ethics that enables professionals of
different fields to distinguish what is right from what is wrong using morality as
standard of evaluation and thus judge on their actions and behaviors. It follows that
Professionals are expected to behave and act in accordance with the codes of conduct
each profession demands. In other words, professional ethics is concerned with the
moral issues that arise because of the specialized knowledge that professionals
attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a
service to the public.
 Contd…
• Fundamental Codes / Principles of Professional Ethics
a) Punctuality, a strict observance of an appointed time
b) Honesty and Integrity; the art of telling truth for unity of the institution
c) Confidentiality; keep some information to be confined and be secret
d) Impartiality; expected to treat all clients equally during service
provision with no any discrimination.
Chapter Two: Understandings on State &Government
What are State, Government ?
In this chapter issue of the state and government with their basic
features, its roles and structures, government types and systems and
citizenship. It is better to starts with defining the terms and the
dimensions and theories of state, government and citizenship.
Understanding State
‘State’ has been a term referred to a bewildering/confusing ranges of
approachs like : a collection of institutions, a territorial unit, a
philosophical idea, an instrument of coercion or oppression, and so on.
…Contd.
Homogeneity may be any factor of commonness of religion, blood, or
language or culture and the like. It is good to have homogeneous,
population of a state as it makes the task of national integration easy.
But it is not must, because most of the states have a population marked
by diversity in respect of race, religion, language, culture, etc.
Problems of nation building would be easy when differences of people
is less significant for a state, that make them a nation. It signifies the
situation of ‘unity in diversity’. In short, it is to be noted that without
population there can be no state, ‘it goes without saying that an
uninhabited portion of the earth, take in itself, cannot form a state.
…Contd.
Defined Territory: There can be no state without a territory of its
own. The territory of a state includes land, water, and airspace; it has
maritime jurisdiction extending up to a distance of three miles, though
some states contend for a distance of up to 20 miles. The territorial
authority of a state also extends to ships on high seas under its flag as
well as its embassies and legations/diplomat’s residence in foreign
lands. As seen in the factor of population, so here it should be
emphasized that the size of a state’s territory cannot be fixed. There are
as large states as China and Russia and as small states of Fiji and
Mauritius in respect of their territorial make-up.
…Contd.
The boundary lines of a state must be well marked out, either by
geographical make up, division by seas, rivers, mountains, thick forests,
deserts,(natural), or done by artificial divisions in the form of digging
trenches or fixing pointed wire fencing.
Government: Government is the soul of the state. It implements the
will of the community/society and protects the people against conditions
of insecurity. If state is the first condition of a civilized life, the
existence of a government is maintaining law and order to make ‘good
life’ possible. The government is the machinery that terminates the
condition of anarchy.
…contd.
It is recognized that when there are diverse interests in society, some
mechanism is needed to bring about and maintain a workable arrangement to
keep the people together. The government of a state should be an organized
body to enforce law in order to maintain conditions of peace and security.
The form of government may be monarchical, aristocratic, oligarchic,
democratic, or dictatorial and, what really needed is that if there is no
government, there is anarchy and the state is at an end.
Sovereignty: As already pointed out, sovereignty is the fourth essential
attribute of the concept state. It is the highest power of the state that
distinguishes it from all other associations of human beings.
…Contd.
Sovereignty, in its simplest sense, is the principle of absolute and
unlimited power. Two aspects of sovereignty (Internal and External).
Internal Sovereignty implies that inside the state there can be no other
authority that may claim equality with it. External sovereignty implies
that the state should be free from foreign control of any kind. It is,
however, a different matter that a state willingly accepts some
international obligations in the form of membership to some
international intergovernmental and other organizations such as the
United Nations.
…Contd.
In the contemporary, political theorists and the UN considered
recognition as the fifth essential attribute of the state. For a political
unit to be accepted as a state with an ‘international personality’ of its
own, it must be recognized by a significant portion of the international
community. It is to mean that, for a state to be legal actor in the
international stage; other actors (such as other states, international
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations… etc.) must
recognize it as a state. For a government of a state to be formally to act
on its behalf, the government must be recognized as legitimate
government of the state by other governments.
…Contd.
The Rival Theories of State
There are various rival theories of the state, each of which offers a
different account of its origins, development and impact on society.
Andrew Heywood (2013) classified the rival theories of state into four:
the pluralist, the capitalist, the leviathan and the patriarchal state. The
Pluralist State: This theory of the state has a very clear liberal lineage
stems from the belief that the state acts as an ‘umpire’ or ‘referee’ in
society. This view has a political analysis, accounting for a tendency,
within Anglo-American thought, to discount the state and state
organizations and focus instead on ‘government’
…Contd.
The origins of this view of the state can be traced back to the social-
contract theory thinkers with the principal concern of examining the
grounds of political obligation, on which the individual is obliged to
obey and respect the state.
According to this theory, state had arisen out of a voluntary agreement,
or social contract, made by individuals who recognized that only the
establishment of a sovereign power could safeguard them from the
insecurity, disorder and brutality of the state of nature.
…Contd.
The Capitalist State
The Marxist notion of a capitalist state offers a clear alternative to the pluralist
image of the state as a neutral arbiter or umpire. Marxists have typically argued that
the state cannot be understood separately from the economic structure of society.
This view has usually been understood in terms of the classic formulation that the
state is nothing but an instrument of class oppression: the state emerges out of, and
in a sense reflects, the class system
In Marx’s writings, a modern state is a committee for managing the common
affairs of the whole bourgeoisie’ that state is clearly dependent on society and
entirely dependent on its economically dominant class is the bourgeoisie. Lenin
described the state starkly as an instrument for the oppression of the exploited
class. . All states, from this perspective, are class dictatorships.
 Contd…
• In particular, Marxists emphasize that the state cannot be understood except
in a context of unequal class power, and that the state arises out of, and
reflects, capitalist society, by acting either as an instrument of oppression
wielded by the dominant class, or, more subtly, as a mechanism through
which class antagonisms are ameliorated/improved.
• Marx predicted that, as class antagonisms faded, the state would ‘wither
away’, meaning that a fully communist society would also be stateless.
Since the state emerged out of the class system, once the class system had
been abolished, the state, quite simply, loses its reason for existence.
•
Rival Theories on Origin and Development
of State
A. Divine Right Theory
This theory is an oldest one concerning the primary origin of the state.
This views state as an institution created by God and rulers as God's
representatives on earth. It claims that it is of God's will that in human
society some are born to rule while others are born to be ruled..
Accordingly, the state is established and governed by God himself or by
some superhuman power. God may rule the state directly or indirectly
through some ruler who is regarded as the agent or vice-regent or
vicar/cleric of God. Such a state is known as a theocratic or God-ruled
state. It served as a justification for the power of feudal emperors.
Contd…
B. Evolutionary Theory
This claims state’s gradual evolution out of earlier communities, that state is an eventual extension
of the family. The first group of collective human life is the family or the household, the last is the
state. Aristotle advocated this theory in view of society of many families is called a village, and a
village is most naturally composed of the descendants of one family, the children and the
children’s children for which reason states were originally governed by kings, as the barbarian
states now are, which are composed of these who had before submitted to kingly government; for
every family is governed by the elder, as are the branches thereof, on account of their relation
there. And when many villages so entirely join themselves together as in every respect to form but
one society, that society is state , and contains in itself… the end and perfection of government.
This theory argues that state is not a make, but a growth; and not one but many factors have
played their part in state building. Consequently, this theory dwells on the fact that the state is a
result of a very long process of evolution and hence there many factors that have played pivotal
role in their part in the origin and gradual development state
Contd…
C. Force theory
This theory associates states with emergence of endemic wars of conquest and conflicts. State
is created through a process of coercions and occupation of the weak by the strong. Hence,
military might or physical strength is considered to be of paramount importance for
consolidation of state power (might is right, war begot king).
D. The Social Contract theory
This was developed from 16th_18th centuries in revolutionary fight against absolute monarchs.
Its major exponents were British political thinkers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and
French scholar Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It holds that state is an artificial creation based on
voluntary consent of people and its purpose is to safeguard peoples' inalienable rights.
However, it gives priority to individual over society. It is difficult to reconcile contradiction
between its individualistic premises as individual is born in to and indefinitely tied to society.
Nevertheless, this theory is currently operational in international politics, as a means to resolve
conflicts.
Contd…
E. The Marxist Theory
According to this theory, state was historically, originated from the split of
society into social classes with sharp and polarized economic interests.
The formation of social classes is associated with emergence of private
property. It stands for the interests of the rich against the poor. Thus,
proponents of this theory believe that with historical process of
disappearance of private property and antagonistic social classes, state
will wither away. Thus, an envisioned Social system, (communism) where
everybody will be equal and all have whatever they want would prevail
( dictums like from each according ability, to each according to needs)
Contd…
2.5 Purpose and Roles of the State : Contrasting interpretations
of state power have clear implications for the desirable role or
responsibilities of the state. With the exception of anarchists, who
dismiss the state as fundamentally evil and unnecessary, all political
thinkers have regarded the state as, in some sense, worthwhile.
2.5.1. Minimal States: Is the ideal of classical liberals, whose aim is to
ensure that individuals enjoy the widest possible realm of freedom.
The state is merely a protective body, its core function is to provide a
framework of peace (to maintain domestic law and order. to ensures
contracts or voluntary agreements made b/n private citizens are
enforced, and to provides protection against external attack).
Contd…
2.5.2 Developmental States: A developmental state intervenes in economic life
with the specific purpose of promoting industrial growth and economic
development. This does not amount to replace the market with a ‘socialist’ system
of planning and control rather, it is an attempt to construct a partnership between
the state and major economic interests, often underpinned by conservative and
nationalist priorities.
A model of developmental state has existed in France, where both left and right
governments have tended to recognize the need for economic planning, and the
state bureaucracy has seen as the custodian of the national interest. In countries like
Austria and, Germany, economic development has been achieved through
construction of a ‘partnership state’, where an emphasis is placed on the
maintenance of a close relationship b/n the state and major economic interests,
notably big business and organized labor.
Contd…
2.5.3 Social Democratic (Welfare) States: social-democratic states intervene
with a view to bring about broader social restructuring, with principles such as
fairness, equality and social justice.
The key to understand social-democratic state is that there is a shift from a
‘negative’ view of the state, which sees it as little more than a necessary evil, to a
positive view of the state, in which it is seen as a means of enlarging liberty and
promoting justice. The social-democratic state is thus the ideal of both modern
liberals and democratic socialists.
Social-democratic state is an active participant; in particular, helping to rectify the
imbalances and injustices of a market economy. It therefore tends to focus less
upon the generation of wealth and more upon what is seen as the equitable or just
distribution of wealth.
 Contd..
• The twin features of a social democratic state are therefore Keynesianism
and social welfare. The aim of Keynesian economic policies is to
‘manage’ or ‘regulate’ capitalism with a view to promoting growth and
maintaining full employment. Although this may entail an element of
planning, the classic Keynesian strategy involves ‘demand management’
through adjustments in fiscal policy; that is, in the levels of public
spending and taxation.
• The adoption of welfare policies has led to the emergence of
‘welfare states’, whose responsibilities have extended to the
promotion of social well-being amongst their citizens. In this sense,
the social-democratic state is an ‘enabling state’, dedicated to the
principle of individual empowerment.
Contd…
2.5.4 The Collectivized States : A collectivized states bring the
entirety of economic life under state control. These sought to abolish
private enterprise altogether, and set up centrally planned economies
administered by a network of economic ministries and planning
committees. So-called ‘command economies’ were therefore established
that were organized through a system of ‘directive’ planning that was
ultimately controlled by the highest organs of the communist party.
The justification for state collectivization stems from a fundamental
socialist preference for common ownership over private property.
However, the use of the state to attain this goal suggests a more positive
attitude to state power than that outlined in the classical writings of Marx
and Engels.
 Contd…
2.5.5 Totalitarian States : The most extreme and extensive
interventionism is found in totalitarian states. The essence of
totalitarianism is the construction of an all-embracing state, the influence
of which penetrates every aspect of human existence. The state brings not
only the economy, but also education, culture, religion, family life and so
on under direct state control.
The central pillars of such regimes are a comprehensive process of
surveillance and terroristic policing, and a pervasive system of
ideological manipulation and control. In this sense, totalitarian states
effectively extinguish civil society and abolish the private sphere of life
altogether. This is a goal that only fascists, who wish to dissolve individual
identity within the social whole, are prepared openly to endorse.
Contd…
2.5.6 Religious States: On the face, a religious state is a contradictory
in terms of modern state, has triumphed of civil authority over religious
authority. Religion increasingly being confined to the private sphere,
through a separation between church and state. The advance of state
sovereignty thus usually went hand in hand with the forward march of
secularization.
The rise of the religious state, driven by the tendency within religious
fundamentalism to reject the public/private divide and to view religion as
the basis of politics.
Regarding political realm as inherently corrupt, fundamentalist movements
have typically looked to seize control of the state and to use it as an
instrument of moral and spiritual regeneration.
Understanding Government

Government :Is an apparatus by which state maintains its existence. It

exercises authority of a state and speaks or works on behalf of state. It
accomplishes state’s purposes and functions and realizes its policies
and objectives. It includes offices, personnel and process by which a
state rules.
In a modern state, government functions have greatly expounded with
the emergence of government as the most active force vehicle in
political, social, and economic development.
Contd…
A government in our context, is to refer to the formal and institutional
processes that operate at the national level to maintain public order and
facilitate collective action. It is a body or organ that administers a country
and main organization dealing with affairs of the whole country.
In other words, government can also refer to political organization
comprising individuals and institutions authorized to formulate public
policies and conduct affairs of state. Governments are empowered to
establish and regulate the interrelationships of the people within their
territorial confines, the relations of the people with community as a whole,
and the dealings of the community with other political entities
Contd…
• Any form of government, need to be stable and effective, must
possess two essential attributes: authority and legitimacy
Authority: In politics, authority implies the ability to compel
obedience. It can simply be defined as ‘legitimate power.’ While
power is the ability to influence the behavior of others, authority is the
right to do so. Authority is therefore, based on an acknowledged duty
to obey rather than on any form of coercion or manipulation. Thus,
authority is the legitimacy, justification and right to exercise that
power
Contd…
Legitimacy: The term derived (from the Latin word legitimare,
meaning ‘to declare lawful’) broadly means rightfulness. Thus,
legitimacy is the attribute of government that prompts the governed to
comply willingly with its authority. Thus, legitimacy is the popular
acceptance of a governing regime or law as an authority.Thus, as long
as legitimacy stays at a certain level, stability is maintained, if it falls
below this level it is endangered.
Legitimacy is considered as a basic condition to rule; without at least
a minimal amount of legitimacy, a government will deadlock or
collapse..
Major purposes and functions of a government
• Self-preservation: A government must keep its state from any form of internal
and external threats.
• Management of conflict (supervision and resolution of conflict): It is a
government’s responsibility to develop and consolidate institutions and procedures
for the management of conflict. Therefore, building and effectively applying
institutions for resolving and managing conflicts is an indispensable function for
developing and consolidating peace, security and stability and tranquillity.
• Regulating the economy: Major functions of a government is regulating the
economy by formulating policies such; as agriculture, industry, transportation,
taxes, tariffs, etc. It also play role on controlling the distribution of resources in
their societies. Hence, the government determines which resources are to be
publicly controlled and which are to be privately owned.
Contd…
• Protection of political, human, social and economic rights of its
citizens: Especially those rights enshrined in the constitutions of
states.
• Provision of necessary goods and/or services to the public:
Especially governments of developing countries usually participate in
providing necessary goods and services to its citizens. Such goods and
services include: provision of education, health care, development of
public works, conservation of natural resources, developing water
supply, electricity, telecommunication, etc… to the public.
 Systems of Government

• In the modern world, there are various systems of government. The two
most well-known systems of government are the parliamentary and
presidential system of government and also rarely hybrid systems.
1. Parliamentary system of government: It refers to a system of
government in which the government governs in and through the
parliament/ assembly, there by fusing the legislative and executive branch
of government. In other words, it refers to a system of government, which
vests the political leadership in a legislative body (the parliament) which,
in turn, selects the executive body (the cabinet + the Prime Minister)
entirely or largely from its membership. Example; Britain, Canada,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Australia, Israel, India, Ethiopia etc...
Contd…
2. Presidential System of Government: is a system of government
which is chiefly characterized by separations of powers between the
legislative and executive branches of government. Example, USA,
Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. … are countries with presidential
system of government.
3. Hybrid System of Government: Is fusion of parliamentary and
presidential systems where power of government is distributed
between the president and the premier yet the president is more visible
over the premier.