The Ethics of Contemporary American Planners

Abstract

Abstract Abstract This article, based on a study of a large, randomly selected group of American planners, looks at what planners think is ethical, and why. Although many planners have similar views about what is ethical, sharp differences are also clearly apparent. Chief among the reasons for these differences is role orientation. Consistently, the most politically oriented planners have a more liberal interpretation of what is ethical than the most technically oriented ones, with a third group—high on both the technical and political dimensions—falling in the middle. Other factors such as political views, attitude towards agency, and propensity to express values in the job were also found to be important in explaining why some planners think differently than others about what is ethical. The implications of these findings are drawn for planning theory, practice, and education.