What political liberalism and the welfare state left behind: chance and gratitude
What political liberalism and the welfare state left behind: chance and gratitude
This chapter examines what has been left behind by political liberalism and the welfare state by connecting John Rawls' theory of justice with Amartya Sen's capability approach. It considers how Japan adopted a pacifist constitution after World War II and developed a system to secure basic wellbeing for all. That system, underpinned by individual rights, has sparked arguments regarding the relation between rights and public welfare, freedom and democracy. The constitutional idea of Japan's social security and welfare system embodies the concept of ‘liberal equality’, but also steps in the realm of ‘democratic equality’. The chapter also discusses the ideas of tolerance and non-discrimination in political liberalism as well as the concept of social cooperation. Finally, it reviews the core assumptions of Rawls' theory of justice, ‘justice as reciprocity’ and ‘justice as fairness’, and introduces two ways of restructuring the theory.
Keywords: political liberalism, welfare state, John Rawls, theory of justice, Amartya Sen, capability approach, social security, democratic equality, reciprocity, fairness
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