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UNIT 12: Government Actions and
Corporate Influence
• Unit Background/Author Perspective
• Module 60: Politics and the Supreme Court
• Module 61: Citizens' United Case:
Free Speech, Corporations, and Participation in Elections
• Module 62: Long Term Unemployment
• Module 63: Immigration Policy
• Module 64: Health Care Legislation
Unit Background/Author Perspective
The U.S. government, by creating new laws, often shifts the boundary between law and
ethics. The notions of right and wrong of presidents, representatives, and Justices often take the
law in new directions.
The first two modules in this unit look at the Supreme Court. The balance of power
between liberal and conservative justices may be the most-overlooked dynamic in law, and the
first module describes this. The next scenario looks at a particular new dilemma that the Supreme
Court presented companies in 2010.
Three recent political debates round out the book. Immigration policy is a hot topic these
days, as is the payment of long-term unemployment benefits to laid-off workers. Finally, there
was no issue debated more during the first part of President Obama's time in the White House
than health care, and that topic is addressed in the last module.
Unit Core Ethical Issues
• The Supreme Court interprets the law, but the President acts as a “gatekeeper”
and determines who gets to the Court in the first place.
• Perhaps the most significant decision of 2010 involved the free speech rights of
organizations.
• The recession has created high rates of overall unemployment. It has also in
particular caused millions of people to be unemployed for unusually lengthy
periods of time.
• The State of Arizona touched off a political firestorm with a new 2010 law that
seeks to crack down on illegal immigration. Many other states will likely debate
similar measures in the years to come.
