Political Equality

Abstract

Abstract

Equality is part of American revolutionary and constitutional ideals. Inequalities have enormous impacts on the functioning of democracy. The goal is clear: “all men are created equal” and, in a democracy, everyone should count for one. But the country has struggled for two centuries to determine what that means in practice and how to accomplish it.

Equal voting rights have been easier to define than the ideal of equality has been for the campaign process. But equal inputs to the political process do not comprise a sufficient condition of a political process which values all equally, any more than the plebiscites we frequently condemn here and abroad. Egalitarian philosophy and empirical observations don't automatically line up.

By contrast, equalization, as movement toward equality, offers more fluid and promising approaches, such as compliance with Rawls' difference principle and similar movements toward equality, which are more helpful for dealing with campaigns. Adequate descriptions of equality must reflect findings that too much inequality is disastrous for democracy.