Question
The Watergate Scandal was one of the saddest times in our Nation’s history and took down a sitting President? Discuss what issues you saw that violated all they we have learned during this semester about ethical behavior. Speak to the theories of Ayn Rand and Immanuel Kant and what they would have told us about the behaviors of “All the President’s Men including the President (Nixon) at the time.
2) Compare and contrast the principles of Utilitarianism and Ethical Egoism in what you learned from this week’s story about Watergate.
3) Compare the behaviors in Watergate to what we are experiencing today in our Political System and the Elected Officials of our time.
Solution
Ethical Implications of Watergate Scandals.
- The Watergate Scandal was one of the saddest times in our Nation’s history and took down a sitting President? Discuss what issues you saw that violated all they we have learned during this semester about ethical behavior. Speak to the theories of Ayn Rand and Immanuel Kant and what they would have told us about the behaviors of “All the President’s Men including the President (Nixon) at the time.
The impeachment of President Nixon was a result of acting contrary to expected ethical behavior. In his attempt to impede the Watergate break-in investigation, he obstructed justice and protected the responsible parties, as well as concealing the existence of the illegal activities that happened in his office. He also abused his powers through the unlawful use of government agencies (Schudson, 2004). In both Kant and Rand’s theories, they both agree that fraud and physical force are two key methods where rights are said to be violated and retaliatory force is justified in such circumstances. The reaction of the public was justified after unearthing President Nixon’s scum.
2) Compare and contrast the principles of Utilitarianism and Ethical Egoism in what you learned from this week’s story about Watergate.
Utilitarianism states that every person has a utility that is of moral worth and any action on relative utility must be judged. On the other hand, ethical egoism is where individuals only perceive their interests as their moral worth. In both principles, the wellbeing of an individual is perceived as valuable. One of the main differences between the two principles is that utilitarianism views an individual’s utility as valuable as anyone else’s. In such an ethical system, all things are equal and an individual should make a sacrifice for others in need. However, egoist philosophy believes that individuals only have an obligation to themselves but not to others. In the case of the Watergate scandal, President Nixon portrayed ethical egoism by considering his interest on the expense of the entire nation.
3) Compare the behaviors in Watergate to what we are experiencing today in our political system and the elected officials of our time.
Watergate scandal was characterized by obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress. In the current political system, Trump’s administration has created numerous range of problems. The ruling individuals have been accused of corrupt use of its executive powers, which poses a threat to democratic norms and the rule of law. The administration has continually undermined America’s status in the global community, vilifying the marginalized communities, launching attacks on civil societies, and becoming accomplices to corporate corruption (Berger & Tausanovitch, 2018). Trump administration is involved in all these activities at the expense of the American people.
References
Berger, S. & Tausanovitch, A. (2018). Lessons from Watergate: preparing for post-Trump reforms. Center for American Progress. Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/07/30/454058/lessons-from-watergate/
Schudson, M. (2004). Notes on scandal and the Watergate legacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(9), 1231-1238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764203262345
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