Emphasizing that social work is inherently political and that social workers have a responsibility for social and political action most accurately reflects which of the ethical preferences for empowerment social work?

This is the ethic of politicized practice. This concept holds that the science of social work has a political basis, no matter how much a person wishes to dissociate themselves from the idea of political action. Advocacy on behalf of marginalized populations and working for the betterment of society and social work itself has a political underpinning, and the social worker has a duty to make sure that their practices are in-line with this ethos.