Public Policies of Tobacco Control: The Process of Evolution of a Social Contract

Abstract

Social contract model though originally envisioned for justifying state control over citizens is being recently explored as a model of morality, especially morality in business. It stands merit over other moral theories primarily because it ensures (at least hypothetically) consent of all rational participants. So the process of moral reasoning is democratic and takes into account the pre contract discord in our ‘original state of existence’ and aims to provide a solution for the existing conditions of dissension and disparity. More importantly, this contract is specific to the moral domain. However, its applicability may have limitations determined by the specificities of a particular domain characterized by either issues, participants, time etc. The authors think that a social contract theory, known as the Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT), is an emerging theory, which has the promising potential to deal with many of the ethical questions of not only the artifactual institution of business, but also issues in the wider areas of our socio-political living, namely public policy. The emphasis on extant contracts of relevant community, and the test of the authenticity and legitimacy of the community norms that are the outcome of these extant contracts, are unique to the features of ISCT. Public policies formulated by the Governments of various democratic nation states undergo certain phases of evolution of rage and resistance to acceptance and implementation. The challenge has always been the fairness of principles that treats everyone’s interest equally. Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” is a fantastic method for working out fair principles but cannot be executed in actuality. Rationality is a more practical tool and helps achieve a plausible fairness. Democracy is the most adhered system of governance because it is based on the human values of equality and freedom. Contract, as a framework as well as a procedure entails best results when it occurs among free and equal individuals. Hence, both democracy as a system and contract as a tool has certain mechanisms and objectives in common. This paper examines the process of introduction, change, renewal of public policy and the underlying social contract.