The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” ... more The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” (Rawls 1971: 204). Committed to a framework of universal civil and political liberties, it seeks to advance an ideal of substantive political equality, ensuring that citizens’ political influence is not determined by their economic position, a requirement of real equality of opportunity, condemning inequalities in advantage tracing to differences in social background,1 and a conception of the general welfare giving priority to the least well-off.2
Rodger Beehler's incisive paper presents three main criticisms of the discussion of autonomy ... more Rodger Beehler's incisive paper presents three main criticisms of the discussion of autonomy and democracy presented in the last chapter of our book On Democracy.1 First, he claims that our discussion of autonomy is flawed by our neglect of the capacity to choose. While the capacities that we associate with autonomy 'understanding, imagining, reasoning, valuing, and desiring'2 are necessary to being an autonomous chooser, they are insufficient. Specifically, as Beehler points out, a pathologically indecisive person might have and exercise all such capacities, but never actually regulate his or her conduct in accordance with judgments arrived at through deliberation, as true self -governance would require. Second, Beehler argues that we mistakenly suppose that being free that is, being a member of an order which ensures the rights and powers required for the exercise of self-governing capacities is sufficient for being autonomous. Here, he claims, we confuse 'social relations constitutive of freedom with individual capacities necessary for autonomy' (Beehler, 577)3 a confusion that he contends arises from our failure to include choice in the characterization of au-
The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” ... more The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” (Rawls 1971: 204). Committed to a framework of universal civil and political liberties, it seeks to advance an ideal of substantive political equality, ensuring that citizens’ political influence is not determined by their economic position, a requirement of real equality of opportunity, condemning inequalities in advantage tracing to differences in social background,1 and a conception of the general welfare giving priority to the least well-off.2
Since the publication of John Rawls'sA Theory of Justice, normative democratic theory has foc... more Since the publication of John Rawls'sA Theory of Justice, normative democratic theory has focused principally on three tasks: refining principles of justice, clarifying the nature of political justification, and exploring the public policies required to ensure a just distribution of education, health care, and other basic resources. Much less attention has been devoted to examining the political institutions and social arrangements that might plausibly implement reasonable political principles. Moreover, the amount of attention paid to issues of organizational and institutional implementation has varied sharply across the different species of normative theory. Neoliberal theorists, concerned chiefly with protecting liberty by taming power, and essentially hostile to the affirmative state, have been far more sensitive to such issues than egalitarian-democratic theorists, who simultaneously embrace classically liberal concerns with choice, egalitarian concerns with the distributio...
The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” ... more The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” (Rawls 1971: 204). Committed to a framework of universal civil and political liberties, it seeks to advance an ideal of substantive political equality, ensuring that citizens’ political influence is not determined by their economic position, a requirement of real equality of opportunity, condemning inequalities in advantage tracing to differences in social background,1 and a conception of the general welfare giving priority to the least well-off.2
Rodger Beehler's incisive paper presents three main criticisms of the discussion of autonomy ... more Rodger Beehler's incisive paper presents three main criticisms of the discussion of autonomy and democracy presented in the last chapter of our book On Democracy.1 First, he claims that our discussion of autonomy is flawed by our neglect of the capacity to choose. While the capacities that we associate with autonomy 'understanding, imagining, reasoning, valuing, and desiring'2 are necessary to being an autonomous chooser, they are insufficient. Specifically, as Beehler points out, a pathologically indecisive person might have and exercise all such capacities, but never actually regulate his or her conduct in accordance with judgments arrived at through deliberation, as true self -governance would require. Second, Beehler argues that we mistakenly suppose that being free that is, being a member of an order which ensures the rights and powers required for the exercise of self-governing capacities is sufficient for being autonomous. Here, he claims, we confuse 'social relations constitutive of freedom with individual capacities necessary for autonomy' (Beehler, 577)3 a confusion that he contends arises from our failure to include choice in the characterization of au-
The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” ... more The egalitarian democratic political project aims at “a reconciliation of liberty with equality” (Rawls 1971: 204). Committed to a framework of universal civil and political liberties, it seeks to advance an ideal of substantive political equality, ensuring that citizens’ political influence is not determined by their economic position, a requirement of real equality of opportunity, condemning inequalities in advantage tracing to differences in social background,1 and a conception of the general welfare giving priority to the least well-off.2
Since the publication of John Rawls'sA Theory of Justice, normative democratic theory has foc... more Since the publication of John Rawls'sA Theory of Justice, normative democratic theory has focused principally on three tasks: refining principles of justice, clarifying the nature of political justification, and exploring the public policies required to ensure a just distribution of education, health care, and other basic resources. Much less attention has been devoted to examining the political institutions and social arrangements that might plausibly implement reasonable political principles. Moreover, the amount of attention paid to issues of organizational and institutional implementation has varied sharply across the different species of normative theory. Neoliberal theorists, concerned chiefly with protecting liberty by taming power, and essentially hostile to the affirmative state, have been far more sensitive to such issues than egalitarian-democratic theorists, who simultaneously embrace classically liberal concerns with choice, egalitarian concerns with the distributio...
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Papers by Joel Rogers