[February 2, 2017] With the news of the recent firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates at the U.S. Justice Department, I found it unusual that a career attorney would be so brazen to defy a legal order of President of the United States. Yates would have been far more effective if she had worked inside the DOJ to present a coherent dissenting view based on current law and traditional moral principles. If so, we could have called her actions loyal dissent.
Perhaps it’s my skeptical view but orders by the president, unless obviously unlawful (and it’s not in this case regardless of what we are hearing), should either be obeyed or the dissenter should resign their office. Exercising loyal dissent, while working inside the system, is a time-testing method of making changes within all professional-based organizations.
Loyal dissent is American as apple pie. But we should keep in mind that the line between loyal dissent and disloyal subversion can sometimes be thin. That’s why communication among key leaders and executives must remain open and honest. Ideology has no place in high levels of government (I know that’s wishful thinking) or any large organization that is to be successful.
“Here in America, we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President
It is the inherent responsibility of leaders to expose a problem so that corrective action can be appropriately taken. The judgment by which to address immoral, unethical, or unlawful decision-making or to expose misconduct presents us with a choice.
The method chosen determines whether the dissenter is truly enticed by reform and uses generally accepted methods of behavior. Or by personal/political reasons about reform and thus actively defies the decision and encourages others to do the same. The latter is what Yates did when she told justice department lawyers not to defend President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Loyal dissent can be risky but it is necessary. It is risky (at least perceived to be so) because it means working within the system for change. This means the decision which precipitated the issue will continue to be in effect. Regardless of the method chosen by the dissenter, however, it should be done with respect and humility since it is for the betterment of all.
Some tips for the loyal dissenter can be found in an earlier blog entry of mine (see link here). The last tip and one we should all take to heart, is that the dissenter should recognize that they may be wrong.
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