Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond

by Martin O'Neill, Thad Williamson (Editor)

"Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond" features a collection of original essays that represent the first extended treatment of political philosopher John Rawls' idea of a property-owning democracy.Offers new and essential insights into Rawls's idea of "property-owning democracy" Addresses the proposed political and economic institutions and policies which Rawls's theory would requireConsiders radical alternatives to existing forms of capitalismProvides a major contribution to debates among progressive policymakers and activists about the programmatic direction progressive politics should take in the near future

Genres: Economics, Politics

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2012

About the author

Marty O'Neill runs Corsum Consulting, which focuses on one thing: helping companies build value. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and frequent speaker and consultant on leadership, corporate culture and building enterprise value. Marty is also the co-author of Act Like an Owner (Wiley). He holds a number of board level positions with mid sized companies including The Advantage Incubator@bwtech, sits on the Business Advisory Board for the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Tech Center and lectures in UMBC’s Entrepreneurship Program. Marty lives on the Magothy River in Maryland with his wife, their three children, and their yellow lab Sunny.

Reviews

[Otto Lehto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the definitive source of essays and articles on the Rawlsian concept of "property owning democracy." (POD) Although the concept itself remains slippery and elusive - which has been its problem from the beginning - the adjoined authors, some of the best names in the field, trace its conceptual contours and interrogate its manifold implications with dexterity and elasticity. The main virtue of the concept, in my view, lies in its capacity to refocus the debate around "redistribution" back into the debate about the relationship between widespread proprietorship and democratic citizenship. In this sense, the concept - whether in Rawls, in Meade, or in their conservative forebears - bears a resemblance to, or is an outgrowth of, the older republican tradition of political theory. The concept also enables a rethinking of the future trajectories of welfare state capitalism - and indeed the imagination of radical alternatives to it - while being rooted in democratic reformism. In the end, I do not believe that POD constitutes a real "third way" alternative to welfare state capitalism and democratic socialism - despite the weak protestations of Rawls and some of his followers - but it provides a powerful model for reforming either.

The best essays in the collection (or at least the most memorable to me) include Ben Jackson's chapter that traces the surprisingly convoluted history of the concept, Corey Brettschneider's moral case for the right to private property as a foundation for POD, Stuart White's discussion of the Republican foundations of POD, David Schweikart's market socialist reading of POD, and Thad Williamson's two chapters dealing with the implementation challenges and viability of POD. And although these were perhaps my favourite chapters, the most remarkable thing about the collection is the high quality throughout, and I would recommend reading through the whole thing. (Or listening since, as it happens, the book is also available as an audiobook on Audible.) I was highly educated and entertained throughout - which is rare for an academic collection of essays!

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his best known work, A Theory of Justice, John Rawls put forth his basic political philosophy (veil of ignorance, difference principle, etc.). The current work extends Rawls's arguments by taking his philosophy seriously to propose actual policy initiatives. An overly simplistic read would confuse the arguments here for some sort of statism, but in actuality these applications of Rawls's ideas are much more radical. A property-owning democracy would guarantee every citizen essential health care, a place to live and an income. How would we get there? Well, I won't spoil it but some of the routes involve minor but important changes to corporate structures and some noticeable increases in inheritance taxes. Not the easiest of reads unless you know your Rawls, but provocative stuff to say the least.