Contexts in conflict: Public and private components of assessment in ethical judgements

Based on complementary survey and focus group data on Canadian mass attitudes, this essay examines the effects of changing contexts-public versus private-on the assessment of ethically charged political behaviour. In general, acts seen as public will face harsher scrutiny and more stringent expectations than those deemed to be private matters. The divide between public and private realms is not, however, a simple, linear border, but rather one that shifts and extends along multiple conceptual dimensions, depending upon the details of the activity being assessed and the context of the observer. Locating this boundary more precisely can enhance understanding of ethical priorities.