In policy ethics, culture norms provide ___ and values provide ___ for judging/evaluating actions.

• A. Culture: rules; Values: guidance.
• B. Culture: guidance; Values: rules.
• C. Culture: ethics; Values: policies.
• D. Culture: symbols; Values: norms.

Answer: (A)

Culture norms function as rules that shape what is expected or permissible in behavior within a policy or practice setting. They lay out the standard conduct people follow, almost like the social regulations that guide everyday actions. Values, on the other hand, are the beliefs about what is important, and they provide the evaluative standards used to judge actions. When you’re weighing how well a policy or action aligns with ethical considerations, values offer the criteria for evaluation, while the norms dictate what is typically required or allowed.

So, the pairing culture norms = rules and values = guidance best fits the idea that norms set the rule-based expectations, while values provide the guiding principles for judging actions. The other options mix up which aspect functions as a rule versus a guiding standard, or assign the terms to domains that don’t match how culture and value are usually understood in policy ethics. For example, treating culture as guidance or values as rules misplaces the descriptive role of norms and the evaluative role of values.