Classical Rationalism and Contemporary Realism: Oaths of Office as Empty Formality or Empowering Function?

Abstract

The practice of making oaths comes from ancient times, a tradition common to nearly all peoples and cultures. Calls for ethics reform in recent years have included questions about how or whether oaths are honored. In the fraught politics of today’s secularized, pluralistic society, skepticism about oaths may be warranted, but it is insufficient as the topic deserves critical reflection. The purpose of this exploratory study is to assess the efficacy of oaths of office. This is accomplished by subjecting them to both philosophical normative ethics and contemporary behavioral ethics examination. The analysis concludes by offering recommendations to reinforce the significance of this once-venerable bond between the populace and public servants.

Keywords:

• Behavioral theory
• ethics
• oath of office
• reform

JONATHAN P. WEST: FAREWELL

It is difficult to do justice here to Jon’s remarkable life, both as consummate academician and family man. While other tributes emphasize his many fine publications, additional contributions include unglamorous administrative duties to his department, university, and the American Society for Public Administration. One of these was managing editor of Public Integrity a role requiring dedication and commitment. Indeed, “Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks,” Thoreau observed, “the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.” In so doing, Jon had a significant impact on the quality of the journal and leaves an admirable legacy to the profession.

Godspeed.

James S. Bowman

Past Editor-in-Chief, Public Integrity

Acknowledgments

The authors are pleased to recognize Stuart Gilman for this close reading of a draft of this article and Yi Fang for her research support and assistance.

Ethical approval

No animals or human subjects were involved in this research.

Disclosure statement

Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Notes

1 Selected portions of this article are adapted and updated from Bowman and West (2013).

2 Rohr (1989, pp. 150–151) notes that an affirmative oath upholds the Constitution in the future should be distinguished form a negative or test oath, which concerns someone’s past associations (e.g., McCarthy-era loyalty oaths). The former is a vow to defend the Constitution and rule of law, not to politicize it. The latter has been struck down by the Supreme Court as interfering with the citizen right to criticize government.

3 The Constitution is not the only legal proscription that fulfills these functions. As (Neal, 2021) points out, the1939 Hatch Act (“An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities”) reinforces the oath to defend the Constitution by faithfully executing the duties of public office

4 For further discussion, see Bowman and West (2021).

5 It was, therefore, decided to retake the oath after the inauguration in order to affirm that the precise words in Article II were recited by President Barack Obama. The incident was then used as a springboard to discuss presidential-court relations with little discussion of oaths.

6 See West (2017, 2020); Bowman and West (2021); Bowman, Berman, and West (2001); and Rutgers (2010).

7 In another study, the authors used a different philosophical framework to ascertain the utility of four transcendental values—truth, beauty, goodness and unity—to assess the oath’s code of honor. Findings indicate the oath of public service can be defended philosophically by giving it meaning on intellectual, aesthetic, moral, and spiritual grounds (see Bowman & West, 2020).

8 Ockham’s Razor uses the simplest possible explanation of a problem, and only makes it more complex when absolutely necessary, as adding qualifications may make a position less elegant, convincing, and correct.

9 Some states have multiple oaths for different officers, while others have only one pledge (for further analysis, see Bowman & West, 2021).

10 A virtue is an excellence or trait. A pre-eminent virtue–integrity (a product or synthesis of virtues such as honesty, moderation, justice, and the prudence to recognize ethical challenges and respond)–is integral to moral nobility. It is found between the extremes of excess and deficiency, Aristotle’s “golden mean.”

11 See Metz (2013) for an interesting discussion of the immorality of oath-breaking.

12 People prefer to believe that they are like judges, conscientiously deliberating over the issues and arriving at reasoned conclusions after examining all the evidence; instead, they are more like lawyers, looking for anything that might help make their case.