Unit Democracy

Marie Louise Meranda

Nieves López Agrasar

DEMOCRACY

Ethical Values

3º ESO

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

Introduction: texts to think about Ethics and Politics

Text 1 Ring of Gyges

“According to the tradition, Gyges was a shepherd in the

service of the king of Lydia; there was a great storm, and an

earthquake made an opening in the earth at the place where he was

feeding his flock. Amazed at the sight, he descended into the

opening, where, among other marvels, he beheld a hollow brazen

horse, having doors, at which he stopped and looked in and saw a

dead body of stature, as appeared to him, more than human, and

having nothing on but a gold ring; this he took from the finger of the

dead and reascended. Now the shepherds met together, according

to custom, that they might send their monthly report about the

flocks to the king; into their assembly he came having the ring on

his finger, and as he was sitting among them he chanced to turn the

collet of the ring inside his hand, when instantly he became invisible

to the rest of the company and they began to speak of him as if he

were no longer present. He was astonished at this, and again

touching the ring he turned the collet outwards and reappeared; he

made several trials of the ring, and always with the same result-when he turned the collet

inwards he became invisible, when outwards he reappeared. Whereupon he contrived to be

chosen one of the messengers who were sent to the court; where as soon as he arrived he

seduced the queen, and with her help conspired against the king and slew him, and took the

kingdom”.

Plato, The Republic, book 2.

Activity 1

• If you could be invisible, would you have the same behaviour? Explain why.

Explanation:

Ethics and

Politics:

Important

Definitions.

Brief history of

their

relationship in

Philosophy.

Dictatorship VS

Democracy.

Democracy:

types and

characteristics.

Citizenship in

Modern

Democracies.

Spanish

Constitution and

Galician Statute.

European Union.

The UDHR as a

universal ethical

code: the

support of the

contemporary

law and

democracies. Two

democracies in

comparison: US

and Spain.

UNIT

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

Even an ethical person would have a different behaviour without the observation of

society and rules.

Plato’s story remains important to us today because it addresses what we can expect

humans to do when they have power over others. In politics, we give power to others, hoping

that they will do what is right. If Plato's allegory of the ring is right, then we had better watch

out. Anyone who gains power without accountability is liable to use it unjustly.

Of course, according to Plato a just and fair person (an ethical person) would have the

same behavior even if they were invisible.

Text 2: Ethics and Politics

Ethics is the art of choosing what suits us and living as well as we can. Politics sets out

to do everything it can for the convenience of society, in such a way that individuals can

choose what suits them. As nobody lives alone […], anyone concerned with the ethics of living

well cannot pretend to have an Olympian detachment from politics. It would be like making

yourself comfortable in a house without wanting to know anything about the drips, the rats,

the temperamental heater, and the wormy cement.

There are, however, important differences between ethics and politics. Ethics

concerns itself with how an individual person (you, me, anyone) acts with respect to his

freedom, while politics tries to coordinate what many people do with their freedom in a way

that will be beneficial to all. In ethics, it is important to want well, because ethics is mostly

about what each person does because he or she wants to –not about what happens to us, or

what we do because we have to. In politics, on the other hand, what matters are the results

of actions, and the politician will use all the means at his disposal, including force, to obtain

certain results and to avoid others. Let’s take a simple case: obeying traffic lights. From the

moral point of view, the positive attitude is to respect the light (understanding its general use,

putting yourself in the place of others who could be hurt if you disobey); but if you look at it

politically, what matters is that nobody jumps the light, even if they obey only through fear

of a fine or prison. To politicians, all those who obey the red light are equally “good”, whether

they obey from fear, habit, or superstition, or from rational conviction; but from an ethical

point of view, the last one is the only “good” one, since they have a better understanding of

the use of freedom. In this way, there is a difference between the ethical question I put to

myself (how do I choose to act with respect to others?) and the preoccupation of politics,

namely that the majority should live their lives in the most satisfactory and harmonious

manner.

Fernando Savater, Amador: A Father Talks to His Son about Happiness, Freedom, and Love,

page 100-102.

Activity 2. Answer these questions:

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

1. How does Fernando Savater define Politics? And Ethics?

2. In what aspects do they look like?

3. In what aspects are they different?

4. Why is it important that they go together?

1. Important Definitions

For all ancient philosophers, including Aristotle, a philosopher from the IV century B.C.,

the end goal of the human being is to be happy.

Being happy means acting rationally, because human beings are “rational animals,” and

act virtuously, that is, conforming to ethical principles. So being “good” is a requirement to

obtain happiness.

But unfortunately, it is impossible for us to be good and happy if we live in an unfair and

unjust society. We need to live in a community because we are “social animals” (zoon

politikón), as Aristotle said.

That is the reason why Social Justice is a requirement for all individuals.

Ethics and Politics are interdependent. As man doesn’t live alone, man is not only a social

being, but also a political being. The individual and the state are related.

Political science determines the duty of the individual to the state and also the duty of the

state with regard to the individual. Rights and duties are maintained by the state and as such,

moral life is intimately connected with political life.

Ethics and politics are intimately related. Both are normative sciences.

Ethics aims at the supreme good of the individual whereas Politics aims at public good. Public

good can be attained through individual good; therefore politics aims at the establishment of

an ideal welfare state where more perfection of the citizens can be realized.

Similarly, individual good can be achieved through public good. Politics is a practical science

but ethics is not. However, the influence of ethics on the practical life cannot be ignored.

2. Brief history of their relationship in Philosophy

Again when we look back at the history of politics and ethics, we learned that in Plato’s

time, ethics and politics were intimately related.

Aristotle, however, wrote two separate treaties on politics and ethics and thereby

differentiated the scope of the subjects. There is of course a difference of opinion among the

thinkers regarding the relationship between ethics and politics.

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

Gandhi for example, advocates that a happy marriage should be instituted between

politics and morality. High politics must have a moral base.

On the other hand, Machiavelli hold that politics has no connection with ethics. The will

of the sovereign is law. The power must be exercised on the people at any cost for their own

protection.

Activity 3: Prisoners’ dilemma

Take six volunteers from the class and send five of them outside. Explain the situation

to the first student who remains in the classroom. They will have to decide if they are going

to confess or not. Individually bring each student back into the room and ask them if they

want to confess or not. At the end, reveal the choices of each of the students to show the

moral dilemma that takes place in a difficult situation. This puts the ideas of ethics and choices

into a real-life situation for the students to better comprehend the weight of ethical values.

This is the situation you have to explain to each student:

You are in the police station with a police officer. You and your accomplice (one of the five

students in the hallway but they cannot know which) have been caught with guns and the

police suspect that you have robbed a bank but we need a confession. This is in fact a crime

of possession of illegal weapons and you can go to jail for one year. You do not know if your

accomplice will confess to robbing the bank. If you both remain silent you can only be charged

with having illegal weapons and you will both spend one year in prison. But, since you do not

know if they will confess, you have to pay attention to the situation. What will you choose?

Confess? Or remain in silence?

Explanation:

The prisoners’ dilemma is the best-known game of strategy in social science. It helps

us understand what governs the balance between cooperation and competition in politics,

and in social settings.

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It shows why two purely "rational" individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears

that it is in their best interests to do so.

People according to public choice theorists are selfish and they look for self-interest

more than altruism.

In fact, this negative and pessimistic conception of human being is not new in the

history of Ideas. The conception of human being, negative or positive, determine the model

of political organization since Thomas Hobbes’ times.

Social contract, in political philosophy, is an actual or hypothetical contract, or

agreement, between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each. In

primitive times, according to the theory, individuals were born into an anarchic state of

nature, which was happy or unhappy according to the particular version. They then, by

exercising natural reason, formed a society (and a government) by means of a contract among

themselves.

Activity 4:

What would this state of nature be for you (no police, no laws, no government)?

Thomas Hobbes maintained that there is not a

connection between Ethics and Politics. Hobbes and his

followers claim that good conduct is imposed by the state

and therefore ethics is only a branch of politics.

The State of nature according to Hobbes is a

violent place, where people live in constant fear. It is

like a state of war (not necessarily fighting but the

inclination to fight and take pre-emptive measures

against each other). The condition of man is a condition of war with everyone against

everyone”. Hobbes has a pessimistic conception of human beings: Homo homini lupus est,

is a Latin proverb meaning "A man is a wolf to another man."

It is urgent to escape of this situation, sign a social contract. People collectively agree

to give up all their freedom and power to a sovereign (ruler.) Hobbes justifies an absolute

control (authoritarian monarchy) where all powers and laws are made by that sovereign.

John Locke is considered one of the most

influential Enlightenment thinkers and is commonly

known as the "Father of Liberalism.” Unlike Thomas

Hobbes, Locke believed that human nature is

characterized by reason and tolerance. Like Hobbes,

Locke believed that human nature allowed people to be

selfish. Locke also advocated governmental separation of

powers and believed that revolution is not only a right

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

but an obligation in some circumstances. These ideas would come to have profound influence

on the Glorious Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the

United States.

The State of nature according to Locke it is not equal to a state of war, it is actually

chaotic, but neither good nor bad. People are equal and free to do whatever they want but

are bound by the law of nature because they have stronger moral limits. In this state of

nature, all people have natural rights: the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to

property (to own all they create or acquire with respect to others’ life and liberty rights.)

It is necessary to sign a social contract to protect these natural rights. Governments

exist by the consent of people to protect their natural rights and promote public good. There

is the principle of the rule of majority where things are decided by the greater public (liberal

monarchy.)

Jean Jacques Rousseau influenced the Enlightenment in

France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French

Revolution and the overall development of modern political and

educational system.

Rousseau asserted that the stage of human development

associated with what he called "savages" was the best or

optimal in human development, between the less-than-optimal

extreme of brute animals on the one hand and the extreme of

decadent civilization on the other. "...Nothing is as gentle as man

in his primitive state, when placed by nature at an equal distance

from the stupidity of brutes and the fatal enlightenment of civil

man.

The State of Nature according to Rousseau is a primitive condition without law or

morality where “uncorrupted moral” prevails. The French philosopher has an optimistic

conception of human being: men are ignorant and innocent, and they are born with the

potential of goodness.

A Social Contract is made among all people of a society to bring them harmony. A

general will is made and agreed by the people to abide by it: “Each of us puts his person and

all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and in a body we

receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole.” Rousseau justifies a political system

such as Democracy.

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3. Dictatorship VS Democracy

Dictatorship

Democracy

Power is controlled by one person or a small group of people and demands the submission of the people

People choose the elective leaders though fair and regular elections. There is separation of powers between legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The dictator and his supporters write the laws in the way that they want. They also interpret these laws arbitrarily.

All citizens abide by the rule of law and that includes the elected officials as well. Laws are created by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch.

There are mechanisms to control information, repress opposition and resistance, and manipulate the political system to maintain power.

There is free press, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to create and form political parties.

4. Democracy: types and characteristics

Democracy is a form of government where citizens participate in government.

We have two types of democracy: direct and indirect or representative democracy.

Direct Democracy: the citizens take part in the decision making process. This is an

ancient form of democracy that was first used in Ancient Greece in the polis of Athens

of the 6 Century B.C. The only people who had citizenship were male landowners, over

the age of 20, and born in Athens. This limited the size of the assembly and therefore

it was possible for everyone to have a vote.

Indirect or Representative Democracy: nowadays, citizenship includes a larger body

of people (anyone with legal documents showing citizenship), this would make a direct

democracy impractical and therefore we use indirect democracy. In indirect

democracy, we choose elected officials who will represent us in the government and

make the decisions for us. If we do not agree with the way they are representing us,

the people have the power to remove them.

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Now we are going to focus on two distinguishing characteristics of democracy: Political

Pluralism and Separation of Powers.

Political Pluralism: This is defined as multiple political parties

representing different political ideals and which are represented in

Autonomous Communities, local government, and state

governments. Elections: During elections, we vote for our political

representatives and they become the leaders and the voice of the

people.

In Spain, we have four types of elections: Council elections,

Autonomous Community elections, General elections (this is

where we choose the representatives of parliament and senate), and European elections. In

elections, we apply the Majority rule, which means that the representative must receive at

least 50% + 1 vote in order to be elected. This is the same process for making laws in the

legislative branch. In order for a bill to become a law, it must be approved by 50% + 1 vote in

parliament. This is not for all acts of legislation: constitutional reforms and organic laws

require ¾ths vote from the parliament. With regards to Majority rule, the rights of the

Minority have to be protected in order to avoid oppression.

Political Pluralism is a way to provide many different perspectives for people to have a choice

in the way in which the government is run. This why we have many political parties, which

have different ideologies and we can choose which one we want to associate with.

Activity 5: Watch the video Mouseland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtTW72F8xo0

o What questions does the video bring to mind about political parties?

o Does it show a negative or positive point-of-view about political parties?

o Do you share this point-of-view? Explain why or why not.

Separation of Powers: This is another crucial element of democracy. One of the first

philosophers who defended the idea of Separation

of Powers was Charles Montesquieu. In his most

famous work, The Spirit of the Laws (1748), he

stated that the power should not be concentrated

in one person (absolute monarchy) but should be

dispersed into three branches: legislative,

executive, and judicial.

The Legislative Branch: Approves the

budgets, makes the laws, and is part of the

system of checks and balances, which keeps

the executive branch from gaining too much power and overthrowing the democracy.

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The Executive Branch: Enforces the laws, deals with foreign, domestic, defense, and

economic policies.

The Judiciary Branch: In the highest level of this branch, they interpret the laws and

make sure they are constitutional. In the lower levels, they have the power to sanction

and carry out punishment for the citizens.

Legislative power Parliament (Cortes Generales)

• Congress (Congreso de los

Diputados)

• Senate (Senado)

Executive power Government, including the Prime Minister

and the Ministers

Judicial power Judges and magistrates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1cN5KuB5s0

5. Citizenship in Modern Democracies

A citizen is a participatory member

of a political community in

representative democracies.

Citizenship status carries with it both

rights and duties.

Many thinkers point to the concept

of citizenship beginning in the early

city-states (pólis) of ancient Greece.

A citizen is not a vassal. In the

Middle Ages, a vassal was a person

who held land under the feudal

system, paying homage and pledging

fealty to an overlord, and

performing military or other duties

in return for his protection.

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

A citizen is not a subject. The monarchs of enlightened absolutism ruled intent on

improving the lives of their subjects in order to strengthen their authority. Implicit in this

philosophy was that the sovereign knew the interests of his or her subjects better than they

themselves; his or her responsibility to them thus precluded their political participation.

All citizens are required to pay taxes to the government. These are collected annually and

are used to pay the salaries of government employees and for public programs. These

programs include things such as healthcare, education, social security, public works (roads,

construction, parks and recreational places).

The Welfare State is the system used by the government to distribute funds for these

public programs.

6. Spanish Constitution and Galician Statute

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the current supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. The

signing of the Constitution marked the culmination of the

Spanish transition to democracy.

The Spanish Constitution declares Spain to be a

parliamentary monarchy, where the king is the official

head of state and the symbol of the country. It also

establishes Spain as a democratic country where the real

political power rests in the hands of the people, that is, the

sovereignty belongs to the Spanish people. It also

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

proclaims our fundamental human rights, the decentralization of the Spanish state into

Autonomous Communities, and the separation of powers.

The fact that Spanish state is decentralised means that the Central Administration

makes certain political decisions, whereas the various autonomous administrations make

other decisions in educational, health, and tax policies. Each one of the seventeen

Autonomous Communities has a Parliament which passes laws and also, an autonomous

government, which controls community matters. The supreme law of each Autonomous

Community is the Statute of Autonomy.

The Galician Statute of Autonomy of 1981 is the current basic

institutional norm of Galicia. The Galician Statute of Autonomy recognises

Galicia as a historical nationality, a cultural and geographical unit entitled

to self-government in democracy. It fixes the following specific powers,

abilities and competencies (among others) to the Galician Government:

the regulation of Galician national symbols (flag, anthem and coat of

arms), the recognition that Galician is the native language of the land, and the

separation of powers between legislative branch (the Parliament), the

executive (the Xunta and its President) and the judiciary branch (the

Supreme High Court of Galicia.)

7. European Union

In 1986, Spain joined the European Economic Community (EEC). At that time, it was a regional

organization which aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states.

What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organization spanning policy

areas, from climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and

migration. A name change from the European Economic Community (EEC) to the European

Union (EU) in 1993 reflected this.

The EU is based on the rule of law: everything it does is

founded on treaties, voluntarily and democratically agreed

by its member countries.

The EU is also governed by the principle of representative

democracy, with citizens directly represented at Union level

in the European Parliament and Member States

represented in the European Council and the Council of the

EU.

The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 European

countries that together cover much of the continent.

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

One of the EU's main goals is to promote human rights both internally and around the world.

Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights:

these are the core values of the EU. Since the Lisbon Treaty's entry in 2009, the EU's Charter

of Fundamental Rights brings all these rights together in a single document. The EU's

institutions are legally bound to uphold them, as are EU governments whenever they apply

EU law.

8. The UDHR as a universal ethical code: the support of the contemporary

law and democracies

On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United

Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights. As they are universal, inalienable, obligatory, and

valid for all nations, independently of each country’s political system,

we can say that they are the intersection between Ethics, Politics, and

Law. However, it is Democracy which is the better political system to

protect human rights as long as they are recognized by Constitutions.

9. Two democracies in comparison: US and Spain

Activity 6: Watch the video and answer the question according to the information offered. https://youtu.be/IY0WDeNZcTw US Democracy

Not all Democracies are the same and the United States is not a true Democracy because it is

called a ‘Democratic Republic’

What does this mean?

The government of the United States is based on a written constitution, the shortest in the

world in fact. This is the most important document in the US and it is the first of its kind. Even

today, many counties base their Constitution off this document. This constitution consists of

a Preamble, seven Articles, and 27 Amendments. From this document, the entire federal

government was created. It is a living document whose interpretation has changed over

time. The amendment process is such that while not easily amended, US citizens are able to

make necessary changes over time.

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Marie Louise Meranda Nieves López Agrasar Ethical Values 3º ESO

The Constitution is built on six basic principles. These are deeply ingrained in the mindset and

landscape of US Government.

Popular Sovereignty - This principle states that the source of governmental power lies with

the people. This belief stems from the concept of the social contract and the idea that

government should be for the benefit of its citizens. If the government is not protecting the

people, it should be dissolved.

Limited Government - Since the people give government its power, government itself is

limited to the power given to it by them. In other words, the US government does not derive

its power from itself. It must follow its own laws and it can only act using powers given to it

by the people.

Separation of Powers - As stated previously, the US Government is divided into three

branches so that no one branch has all the power. Each branch has its own purpose: to make

the laws, execute the laws, and interpret the laws.

Checks and Balances - In order to further protect the citizens, the constitution set up a system

of checks and balances. Basically, each branch of government has a certain number of checks

it can use to ensure the other branches do not become too powerful. For example, the

president can veto legislation, the Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress

unconstitutional, and the Senate must approve treaties and presidential appointments.

Judicial Review - This is a power that allows the Supreme Court to decide whether acts and

laws are unconstitutional. This was established with Marbury v. Madison in 1803.

Federalism - One of the most complicated foundations of the US is the principle of federalism.

This is the idea that the central government does not control all the power in the nation.

States also have powers reserved to them. This division of power is somewhat complicated

and sometimes it creates problems when it cannot be determined if it is a state power or

federal power.

How would this effect natural disasters only occurring in one state? (Look up Hurricane

Katrina as an example)

The US also has three branches of government with the Executive (President), Legislative

(House of Representatives and the Senate), and the Judicial (Supreme Court)

How long are terms for each post? How are representatives in the House of Representatives

chosen?

Who’s job is to interpret the constitution?

The US has a separation of Church and State, meaning that the government works

independently of the church and is not supposed to be influenced by its Christian roots.

The US functions under a two-party system, even though there can be more parties.

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Can you name these two parties and explain the ideologies of each?

Elections

Elections occur in the United States at all levels including local, state, and federal. There are

numerous differences from locality to locality and state to state. Even when determining the

presidency, there is some variation with how the electoral college is determined from state

to state. Surprisingly, voter turnout is barely over 50% during Presidential elections.

When is the US presidential election held?