Justice and economic democracy

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between justice and democracy with special reference to economic democracy. Those who favor greater economic democracy sometimes equate justice with democracy, seeing in greater democracy the key to a more just society. The author presents a critique of this idea, arguing that greater democracy does not mean greater justice, but can easily lead in the opposite direction. The equation of justice with democracy is often linked to communitarian ideals that subordinate the individual to the group, and to concepts of politics that blur the distinction between private and public, political and economic. The paper explores the significance of group life for economic justice, the concept of politics appropriate to normative theory in political economy, and the problematic ideal of government that derives from equating justice, democracy and government. The paper considers both workplace democracy and the democratization of economic policy making.