The application of ethical practices in the Central Intelligence Agency is inadequate.
Hypothesis
The ethical application in the Central Intelligence Agency is inadequate.
Research questions
Does the Central Intelligence Agency apply ethics in its practices?
Is the ethical framework adequate?
Is there need to legislate on the ethics necessary in the operations of the Agency?
Null Hypothesis
The ethical application in the Central Intelligence Agency is adequate.
Independent variable
The Central Intelligence Agency has an ethical practice.
Dependent variable
The dependent variable is the adequacy of the ethical practices in application within the agency.
Conceptual definition
The current standards and global developments demand for accountability especially in the private enterprises. However, the need for ethical application and accountability does not merely end at the private enterprises. There is considerable pressure to have public agencies be accountable. As it stands, the accountability of federal agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency is supervised and checked by Congress which is the highest level of the people’s representation. However, Congress may only regulate against the provision of statute. Therein are extra statutory requirements which no arm of government checks. The application of ethics in most public agencies is outside the requirement of statute and therefore taken to be optional. This paper, therefore, seeks to analyze the application of ethics by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Operational definition
The paper shall pursue a qualitative approach with reliance being placed on secondary sources. These primarily entail the work by various scholars on ethics especially within the Central Intelligence Agency. However, the paper shall equally apply primary sources such as legislation which shall be incorporated to show the level of legislative intervention in as far as matters of ethics are concerned.
