THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 September 2019 (Can legislative action change the behaviour of a country? (Live mint))

Can legislative action change the behaviour of a country? (Live mint)

Mains Paper 4: Ethics
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Human behavior and emotions

Context

There are many instances when legislative action has been an utter failure in changing the behaviour of a nation.
Attempts to make citizens stop drinking alcohol by introducing prohibition have failed across the world, from the US to the Indian states of Gujarat and Kerala.
Every time a law tried to curb alcohol consumption, consumption disappeared from the mainstream of society to its underbelly.
This created even bigger problems for the state.

Case study in US

Several laws have been passed in the US to end racial discrimination.
Despite these, discrimination based on race is still a reality in that country.
In a study among Airbnb customers, researchers at Harvard Business School found that African Americans were 16% less likely to be accepted as guests than Caucasians.
The study could not find any variable beyond race to explain this attitude.

Background

But there are also cases where legislation has gone on to create fundamental changes in social behaviour.
Several measures, including health warnings, were used to curtail smoking. But one factor that has demonstrably contributed to a sustained decline in smoking was a ban on it in public places.
One of the first pieces of legislation to curb smoking in public places followed an order of the Kerala high court, way back in 1999.

Role of legislation in changing behavior

Cognitive biases are short cuts the brain takes to go about its day-to-day affairs. But some of these systematic deviations tend to create a tendency or prejudice toward or against something or someone.
Many of the biases are implicit and escape conscious detection. It is almost impossible for legislation to erase deep-rooted biases about race, gender, ethnicity, etc.
So, legislation alone will not be enough to create equality for women, especially when it comes to issues involving religion.
Several other behavioural interventions will have to be introduced in organizations and society to achieve gender parity.

Interventions needed beyond legislation

To change social norms, we need interventions beyond legislation.
There has been a greater transformation of attitudes towards gay rights in the past 30 years in the US than there has ever been in recorded attitudes on any other issue.
This dramatic shift did not happen because of any legislation, but the knowledge that someone within one’s personal world family or friends’ circle may have this sexual orientation.
Research has shown that people who got acquainted with at least one gay person were more likely to later change their minds, and become more accepting of gay and lesbian people in general.
Similarly, the solution to the Kashmir problem lies in the government’s ability to get ordinary Kashmiris to interact with others outside their state.
Legislation has a higher chance of success when it is trying to manage a public behaviour.
Many a time, an individual’s action in a public place can have an impact on others too.
This wider impact of an individual’s action on the larger society can be used as a valid excuse to instil more responsibility in the individual’s action.
The success of the ban on public smoking can be attributed to this facet.

Conclusion

Humans tend to make judgements on whether to engage in a prohibited activity based on the expected cost of that behaviour.
If the severity and probability of punishment exceed the expected benefit or pleasure of the act, then the actor will refrain from that behaviour.
Now that the law has been amended, the fines for bad behaviour are steep enough to cause significant pain to the offender.
With stricter traffic policing, the likelihood of getting caught and punished goes up as well.
In all, the loss caused by stiff fines is likely to leave a deep imprint on the memory of the offender. This will surely deter future offences.
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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) What is ‘Navarro recession’, recently seen in news?
A. It highlights the manner in which misguided trade and currency policies by the current U.S. administration.
B. It represents the sharp decline in economic activity during the late 2000s.
C. It refers to the unusual problem faced by Japan since the 1990s when net private savings is high despite near-zero interest rates.
D. None of the above