Trumping Ethical Norms

Questions of ethics and politics have a long tradition in the classroom as well as the political world. Those who act in the political realm―including the media, political strategists and consultants, educators, and religious leaders―are in professions for which a clear code of conduct or an accepted set of ethical norms exists. By contrast, Donald J. Trump, as candidate and as President, has upended the political and ethical context in which he and others operate. This book explores emerging ethical questions that face professionals interacting with a new executive order. Some say the age of Trump is unique and that the norms of ethical professional behavior must be bent to meet this challenge. Others maintain that responding to someone like Trump is precisely why their profession has ethical norms, and that they must put their judgments on hold and respond in what has always been deemed the appropriate professional manner. Each chapter opens with an introduction setting the framework of ethical analysis for a particular profession, is followed by original contributions by notable practitioners, and concludes with a set of questions for students and other readers to ponder and discuss.

L. Sandy Maisel is the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government at Colby College. From 2003–2012 he served as the founding director of the College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement.

Hannah E. Dineen is a graduate of Colby College and a producer at The Morning Report at Portland, Maine’s WCSH-6, an affiliate of NBC.