50. Integrity gains attention when you shape the collective conscience
Integrity rests not only in SPs themselves, but also in their contribution to the integrity of the groups they belong to. If you stand for something, you promote it in your own group. SPs can do this, for example, by raising the issue of inappropriate behavior, discussing moral considerations during consultations, and taking measures to promote integrity. However, co-opting the integrity of colleagues brings new risks to integrity.
Integrity is not only about the individual. It is also a question of what we contribute to the integrity of the groups we belong to. A politician, for instance, can contribute to the integrity of the section, party, or entire parliament. This can be achieved by confronting others about their behavior, showing willingness to discuss moral questions and dilemmas, denouncing inappropriate practices, and raising important moral considerations at meetings. This kind of contribution breaks through groupthink, keeping others on the right path and ensuring integrity in decision making. We can also make efforts for measures to advance the integrity of our group, such as making or carrying out proposals for new rules and programs to implement and enforce them.
This kind of contribution is not reserved for special SPs. In principle this is the role of every SP. If you stand for something, you will not tolerate others infringing it or decisions and developments that threaten to take things in the wrong direction. The issues you confront others about – and also those on which you can be confronted – show your own integrity, as do the subjects you speak out on. At the same time, the more relevant experience and education people have, the better they are able to speak out and confront others, as they know what they are talking about and can speak with greater credibility and authority. Over time in office there are increasing opportunities – and responsibilities – for using your knowledge of history, as well as preserving and passing on tradition, for instance by educating others about relevant decisions taken in the past, and the related considerations. It is with good reason that senior members tend to have special duties and privileges.
SPs can choose to build up a public image of integrity and gain positions of trust in their groups, playing the gadfly or clown, shaping the collective conscience, and inspiring new measures and activities to promote integrity. A public image of this kind brings risks to integrity. As we saw previously, the more you criticize the integrity of others, the more critically your own integrity will be scrutinized and the more criticism you will attract if you deal with it inadequately. The more you become the guardian of group integrity, the more passive others may become, because they think that you are taking action. The more actively you stand up for issues, the more significant it is when you are silent on a particular subject, leading more easily to the assumption that you agree. Finally the more you build your reputation on integrity, the more likely you are to be seen as interfering, a know-it-all, or obstructive.
In short, an important benchmark for integrity is the extent to which you see yourself as your brother’s keeper: when do you confront others, and on what issues? This reveals not only when you feel moved or offended yourself, but also the extent to which you feel responsible for protecting and promoting the integrity of others and the group.