Effects of Ethics on Pursuit of Security - Term Paper Example

Effects of Ethics on Pursuit for Security Name Institutional Affiliation Effects of Ethics on Pursuit of Security Introduction Ethics has a significant indirect impact on the security. Ethics and safety are bounded by values which are enshrined on the law systems. Utilitarian ethics is formed on the premises that any act that offers great extent of good over the evil is regarded as a moral or ethical choice (Heywood, 2015). However, the goodness of the action can compromise the security of other people in the society. Safety is an essential element in the hierarchy of needs after biological ones, according to Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. Ethics are aligned with preservation of the rights of an individual. Countries which value freedom and peace are prone to security threats. They deserve top compromise the human rights and civil liberties for them to be sure of being safe (Closs, et al.,2011). Some security experts state that it is critical to tamper with the frameworks that protect an individual from the excess powers of the state to improve the ability of the government reacts effetely to dangerous security threats. The human rights are political privileges that are enjoyed at the time of stability. However, during an emergency and national threat they should be compromised. Civil society is comprised of organizations or groups that are working towards the interest of the citizens. However, their operations exclude making profits and government. It is made of the institutions and organizations that are composed of churches, labor unions, non-profit organizations and other agencies that offer vital services to the society, but in return, they receive something little (Godfray, 2010). Despite the fact they are independent of the structure of government, they often participate in the political actions. They are involved in the public process through influencing the decisions that are the government makes. For the achievement of operational of constitutional and development frameworks such as the provision of security to all people regardless of their identity to be realized, the establishment and maintenance of a vibrant civil society are much crucial. The war in a country would result in a crisis. During this time, the structures of the civil societies are altered, or they are completely banned. It is similar to what happens when the autocratic authorities view the civil societies as a threat, and they would shut them. The weakening of the integrated system would substantially result in social relations that depend primarily on force and fear (Schwartz, 2007). The critical way of overcoming as the social system is the re-development of many political and social Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It offers opportunities to people to express views about their lives which provide them with the sense of belonging and integration with other individuals in a country. It links them with the system of democracy is a useful manner. However, for the sake of safety and security, it is reasonable to interfere with the ethics regarding upholding democracy. The recovery process of the civil society, once it has been eliminated, is always much slow. It can receive much assistance from the external party. It is usually from the global NGOs who joins and assist local community to start a concurrent agency of their own. Despite that the civil societies exist separately from the state, they rely on the acceptance of the state for them to grow and prosper (McShane et al., 2011). The people should have the freedom to express their views freely, to participate in a political and social process without fear of the consequences and to associate freely with other like-minded. Civil society would be underdeveloped without such freedoms. Denying the civil society some freedoms that would interfere with the wellbeing of the people is acceptable for the protection of the lives. Culture consists of the values, attitudes, practices and goals that are shared by a group of people in the society or the organization Cultures differs from one country to the other, geographical areas and also among different organizations and groups (Lee et al., 2010). Standards, Ethical and moral beliefs are reflected in the habits of an individual. They guide people on how they should interact and behave with others. Therefore, values that encourage peace would promote the security of the society. Cultural norms are sanctioned, shared and have integrated frameworks of practices and beliefs that are passed from one generation to the other, and they are feature a cultural group. Norms nurture a dependable principle for everyday activities and contribute to the well-being and health of culture (Porter and Kramer, 2011). They act as prescriptions for the correct and moral conduct, lend coherence and meaning to life. They provide a way of realizing a sense of safety, integrity, and belonging. Cultural rituals and values together with related normative beliefs enforce a sense of control and order on the life aspects that would otherwise turn to be chaotic. It is the point where ethics intersects with culture to maintain law and order in the society. The chances are that what is considered to be ethical in one group of people would not be taken the same way as other inhabitants in a different culture. Interpretation of truth about the correct moral and ethical behavior for all the geographical and time space is influenced by our culture (Sidel, 2007).That is according to the cultural relativists. The approach is opposite to universalism which states that moral values are similar for every individual. Universalism is regarded as less tolerant than cultural relativism due to the fact that in the case where there is no system of making moral judgments between different cultures, therefore it cultures would have to tolerate each other. The disparity of cultures can harmonize to avoid conflicts that would result in insecurity. Laws are the systems of regulations that have been set govern the behavior of people of society, community, and nations in accordance to the need for regularity, justice, and consistency that is founded on a collective human experience. What is wrong or right in any given situation is determined by ethical standards. Laws reflect the interests and values of a society. All the legal systems consist of some values; however, they are not understandable either within the general; members of the public or within the law framework itself. Conflicting interest in the society would compromise the maintenance of law and order. Ethical approaches form the basis of the set rights and duties that are found in the laws. They approach help in making the decisions that are aimed at establishing and upholding normative standards; which are conducts that are deemed desirable and acceptable within the society. Although the critical roles of values within the laws have been criticized by some scholars (Jägel et al., 2012). Rationality and neutrality of the laws have been stoutly challenged by some legal experts. They state that the legal system is directly linked to the economic, political, cultural and historical contexts. The critics see the legal system as a function that tends to safeguard inequalities within the society through maintaining them as the natural and desired values that the society would wish to protect. The essence of inequalities in the society would conflict as the needy tries to acquire from the wealthy groups from the society and vice versa. It would bring an insecurity. Alexis de Tocqueville developed a classical liberal model which states that civil society and the political society are interrelated. Later in the 20th Century, Almond and Verba modified it to illustrate the important responsibilities of the political culture in a democratic society (Lyon, 2007). The two scholars argued that political units in a nation create better awareness initiatives that inform the voters to make wise choices and be active in the political aspects which result to the accountability of the government. Security is one of the rights that those powerful civil society group can promote by creating awareness the importance of being in peace with other people. In a free and democratic society, freedom of association is essential. In a functioning democracy, people are at liberty to form and join political associations. The right extends to other forms of associations such as religious, social, sporting and cultural. Denying a people the rights to associate with others would likely to have negative effects, as that individual would not be able to express and share their views. Freedom of association is always linked to other liberties such as speech, assembly, and belief.Freedom of peaceful gathering is directly related to the right to freedom of association. It offers the way for the members of the public can express their views on certain that are affecting them in the society. It offers them the privilege to hold demonstrations, private and public meetings, go slow protests and press conferences (Posner and Vermeule, 2007). However, the right of associations always implies peaceful assembly, the intentional violent protests sometimes occur. It can take place in the case where the two sides with conflicting ideologies confronted each other. It would disrupt the peaceful existence of the people around those areas. Further, there can be a form of interference from the government to prevent the demonstration from proceeding. It creates a quarreling between the protesters and the police, as the security officers would be trying to maintain law and order (De Genova, 2007). The security agencies are responsible for taking reasonable actions to ensure that right to freedom is enhanced and to offer protection to the participants who are holding a peaceful protest from being disruption of others. The theory of natural rights paves the way for the right to privacy. The right to privacy restrains both the private and public party action that may pose a threat to the privacy of individuals (Tsoukala, 2009). The right to privacy would prevent a security and other government officer from an individual property without a warranty that shows that crime has been committed with that particular person. It includes the decisions that individuals can make about their bodies and private lives without interference from the authority. However, privacy can result in security threats, especially in the terrorism threats. The aspect of creating a balance between the security and privacy of an individual fundamentally lies on the hypothesis of whether or not to uphold the rights of a single citizen at the expense of the greater nation. In the fight against terrorism, the private rights of an individual citizen must be sacrificed of for the majority of people gain peace. The argument is derived from the concept of consequentialism. The model was developed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. The two scholars assert that an action is declared to be ethical good in the case where the majority of people enjoys great happiness. Freedom of Expression is important in a democratic society. The political debates are informed with the information and ideas that are fundamental to the accountability and transparency (Huddy and Feldman, 2011). The freedom of expression includes the rights to have an opinion, to receive and share ideas and information without interference from the authority. It also comprises the right to express oneself in any form of media such as images, pictures, words, and actions. At the most fundamental one is expression through public demonstrations and protest. Various governments in the world are increasing their surveillance, controlling and other security operations that are aiming at the individuals based on their beliefs, ideas and their orientation. The main targets are the civil rights organizations and the protesters (Sauter and Carafano, 2012). These activities might limit the rights of expression that one deserves. In various cases, those violations may result to self-censorship in the communities. It hinders the systematic activism as people are restrained from holding the demonstration to express their grievances and the integrity in the society is undermined. Conclusion Ethics has great effects on the security of a country. Civil Societies, norms and values and civil liberties are enshrined in ethics. Civil societies fights for accountability of the government to its citizens, norms and values set standards of behaviors in the society and civil liberties expresses the rights of an individual. They all have an influence on the security. Therefore, ethics has a significant influence on the security of a society. References Closs, D. J., Speier, C., & Meacham, N. (2011). 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