Dialogue on Political Contributions and Engineering

The National Society of Professional Engineers has initiated a dialogue on political contributions and their relationships to engineers' contracts with governmental agencies. Triggered by newspaper headlines and stories that link the two, the dialogue is a sensitive exercise. The profession is forced to question its constituent behavior, or the relevance of codes of ethics that prohibit these relationships. To a man, individuals deny participation in quid pro quo arrangements, but the existence of institutional quid pro quo systems of acceptability for contracts can hardly be disputed. From important quarters, the dialogue is punctuated by silence on a subject that deserves much greater general understanding. Because of the dialogue, NSPE contributes to understanding, and meets a test of self‐regulation. The profession of politics itself is addressing campaign spending and fund‐raising as a national issue of great concern. Greater participation by associated engineering societies is urged.