Professional Ethics and Threats to Democracy
By FASPE Chair David Goldman
One of FASPE’s most interesting challenges arises with fellows who are working in “democratic autocracies,” i.e., countries that claim democracy because they allow voting, but which in reality are autocracies. Think Russia or the Philippines, think Turkey or Venezuela. It is a challenge because these fellows’ experiences and their professional contexts are so different from those who work in the United States. Because of this, however, their insights are so very important; they are able to talk from experience about the true and fundamental importance of professional ethics. They are able to talk about the luxury (that we may take for granted) of operating free of autocratic restrictions.
As we come to Election Day in the United States, I write about those professionals in the United States who today accommodate the actions that elsewhere have led to autocratic behavior and create a real risk for us today. My bone to pick is not with the voters who may vote for one candidate or the other; my frustration is with the professionals who are sacrificing professionalism and professional ethics in the false name of advocacy. This, in turn, can instead lead to autocracy.
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Democracy depends on accurate information being placed before the voters. Put in economic terms, democracy depends on a free and accurate marketplace of facts that serves as the basis for reasoned ideas and opinions (and votes). Misinformation, intentional or knowing mistruth, is the greatest threat to democracy.
Democracy depends on free and fair elections. Democratic autocracies claim to be true democracies based on their free elections. They ignore the fair part of the equation. Campaigning and advocating are fine—they are an element of fair elections; seeking through legal or legislative processes to influence an election, however, is not fine. Even more, seeking through clever lawyering or legislative power to make it more difficult to vote curtails freeness and fairness. It is simply the greatest threat to free and fair elections. Even if one suspends disbelief and accepts that those who are seeking to increase the barriers to vote are acting in good faith without partisan interest, we must still not interfere with that most basic of democratic values—the right to vote. Our goal should be to make voting easier, not to create false and distracting impediments.
What role are some journalists playing in the spread of misinformation? What role are some technologists playing in creating misinformation? What role are some clergy playing in preaching misinformation? What role are some business people playing in using the power of their commercial platforms to promote misinformation? What role are some lawyers playing in seeking to restrict the availability of the voting ballot to only some citizens?
Believe me, I am not here advocating for one or the other candidate. I suspect that the supporters of each candidate see the miscreants on the other side. Of course, that raises the important question of self-awareness (and, even, the belief in propaganda as long as it is my propaganda). But we may leave these questions for another time.
While it is too late to hold those unprofessional professionals to account in this election, it is our responsibility as voters to recognize the improper (and opaque) influence they may be having on us as we enter the voting booth. It is our responsibility as voters to ignore the misinformation and to vote based on truth and on the values that matter to us. We must not allow ourselves to be manipulated by others.
Professionals, question your ethics by being self-aware; do not pursue advocacy, even in the name of loyalty, when doing so is at the expense of professionalism and ethical responsibility.
"Considering Professional Ethics" is a monthly essay shared in the FASPE e-newsletter.
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