Question

Government and business leaders are being held to ________ ethical standards than in the past.

1) lower ethical standards than in the past
2) ethical standards in the U.S., but unfortunately foreign leaders are not being subjected to ethical scrutiny
3) higher ethical standards than in the past
4) ethical standards that are often unreasonable and cannot be met by most leaders

Answer 1

Government and business leaders are increasingly being held to higher ethical standards due to societal expectations and global interconnectivity. Normative Ethical Relativism recognizes the variation in ethical standards across different societies. Option 3.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to shifts in ethical standards that government and business leaders are held to. In recent times, there has been a trend towards higher ethical standards, partly due to globalization, increased societal awareness, and the interconnectedness of trade and international policy.

The concept that ethical standards vary from place to place is aligned with Normative Ethical Relativism, which suggests that morality can differ across cultures and societies. This is borne out by the varying environmental regulations across countries, with some European nations enforcing stricter standards than the U.S., for example.

The mention of international trade implies that while low-income countries may sometimes be pressured to improve their ethical standards, high-income countries may already have high or higher standards in place. so Option 3.