Essay 7

In a stable and legitimate democracy, what would be the functions of

a) distributive justice

b) retributive justice

c) civic or equitable friendship?

How would these behaviors deal with the problems caused by sacrifice?

An analogy.

Democratic society is like a game. In order for the game to be fair and for people to want to play, there must first be a just distribution of initial assets. These include material things, like the money everyone gets at the beginning of a Monopoly game, but also include such things as rights. It's important to Monopoly not only that everyone starts with the same amount of cash, but that everyone has the same rights under the rules. No one gets extra rolls of the dice, e.g. or gets rent that others wouldn't get. If there weren't this initial just distribution, the game would not be legitimate (not fair) and the players who received less than their fair due wouldn't want to play. Who wants to play a game that is rigged in someone else's favor? (One could of course acquiesce in this domination, but this would still not be a legitimate fair game.) In this game, players will sacrifice from time to time. (Here is where the analogy breaks down: In Monopoly, unlike in democracies, there is an ultimate winner. All the other players end up sacrificing everything by going bankrupt. This cannot be the model for legitimate democracies where, Allen says, what is being strived for is the mutual good of all citizens and where all can benefit, there need not be ultimate winners and losers.) Suppose then that the original distribution of goods is fair and the rules (right and duties) are fair. Then all is well until someone cheats. At that point some kind of retributive justice would be needed to fix the problem. If I surreptitiously miscount my steps to avoid landing on your hotel, then retributive justice would make me put my piece on your hotel where it belongs.

In a democracy, as Allen sees it, the function of distributive justice is to make sure the political rules are fair and that bargains and exchanges are handled fairly. Retributive justice is designed to fix violations of such rules. Civic equitable friendship on the other hand, is designed to see that the longer-term more trusting exchanges are not such as to impose undue sacrifices on citizens. It does so by inculcating in us a sense of equitable self-interest, goodwill towards our fellow citizens, and a commitment to being fellow citizens which is different from being competitors and dominators. It attempts to eliminate persistent patterns of domination and acquiescence so that the inevitable sacrifices political life requires are legitimately distributed.