Equality and Legitimacy

Author: Wojciech Sadurski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199545179
Published In: April 2008
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Fills the hole in post-Rawlsian analytic moral philosophy by demonstrating how a conception of democratic legitimacy is necessary for understanding and reconciling equality and political legitimacy
Develops a comprehensive account of political, legal, and social equality, and examines the relationship these forms of equality have with the concept of legitimacy

This book examines the relationship between the idea of legitimacy of law in a democratic system and equality, conceived in a tripartite sense: political, legal, and social. Exploring the constituent elements of the legal philosophy underlying concepts of legitimacy, this book seeks to demonstrate how a conception of democratic legitimacy is necessary for understanding and reconciling equality and political legitimacy by tracing and examining the conceptions of equality in political, legal, and social dimensions.

In the sphere of political equality this book argues that the best construction of equality in a democratic system - which resonates with the legitimizing function of majority rule - is that of equality of political opportunity. It is largely procedural, but those procedures represent important substantive values built into a majoritarian system. In the sphere of legal equality it argues that a plausible conception of non-discrimination can be constructed through a "reflective equilibrium" process, and should reject a thoughtless assumption that the presence of some particular criteria of differentiations necessarily taints a legal classification as discriminatory. Finally, the chapters on social equality explore, in some detail, the currently influential, and presumptively attractive, "luck egalitarianism": the idea that social equality calls for neutralizing the disparate effects of bad brute luck upon a person's position in society.

Readership: Academics and advanced students of Jurisprudence, Philosophy of Law, Politics, Democratic Theory, Ethical/Moral Philosophy, and Political Philosophy.

Introduction
1: Law's Legitimacy and Democracy
Legitimacy of Law and the "Service Conception" of Authority
Authority and Identification of Valid Law
"Service Conception" and Democracy
Justification and Obligation
"Democracy without Values"?
"Democracy without values" in the constitutional sense
Conclusion
2: Political Equality and Majority Rule
Majority Rule and legitimacy: a Shortcut Link?
Majority Rule and Intensity of Preferences
Vote Trading and Equality
Majority Rule, Unanimity and Equal Respect
Majority Rule an the "Aggregation of Wills"
Outcomes and Procedures: "Detached" and "Dependent" Conceptions of Democracy
Equality of Influence, of Impact, and of Political Opportunity
Equality of Political Opportunity and Majority Rule
Conclusion
3: Legal Equality
Equality before and in the Law
Equality in Law: A Non-Negotiable, Fundamentally Ambiguous Ideal
The "No Differential Treatment" Standard
Per se Theories and Immutable Characteristics
Relevance, Circularity, and Levels of Scrutiny
Suspectness and Discrimination
Conclusion
4: Social Equality (I): The Contours of Social Equality
Social Equality: Individualized and Collective
"Natural and Social Lottery"
Self-Ownership and the "Extensions" of a Right over One's Body
Self: Thick and Thin
Common Pool of Natural Abilities?
Conclusion
5: Social Equality (II): Luck Egalitarianism and Its Limits
Luck and Responsibility in "Luck Egalitarianism"
Luck Egalitarianism and Moral Intuitions about Equality
Equality of Resources, of Welfare, and the Status of Preferences
Persons, Circumstances and Talents in Luck Egalitarianism
Resources and Welfare: Shortening the Gap
How Egalitarian is Luck Egalitarianism?

Wojciech Sadurski, Professor of Legal Theory and Legal Philosophy at the European University Institute, Florence, and Professor of Legal Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Law