PSIR- EQUALITY

 EQUALITY

 


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What is the concept of equality in Political Science. How equality is related to liberty ?

 The Concept Of Equality Is Relative And Can Be Understood Only In A Concrete Context. Equality Is Not A Recognition Of A Treat Or A Reward. There Can Be No Final Identity Of Healing As Long As Men Differ In Wants, Abilities And Needs. Injustice Is Born Out Of Treating Unequals Equally As Much As From Treating Equals Unequally. And Most Importantly, Apart From Natural Inequalities, There Are Inequalities Created By Society – Inequalities On The Basis Of Birth, Wealth, Knowledge, Religion Etc.

When Liberalism Insisted That All Men Are Equal By Birth, It Meant Challenging Property Ownership Suffrage. The Declaration Of The Rights Of Man Explicitly Recognized That Superior Talents And Qualities Of Character Are A Reasonable Basis For The Distinction Of Wealth, Honor And Power.

History Does Not Move Toward Greater Equality Because The Faster We Eliminate One Inequality, The More We Create Another: The Difference Is That What We Discard Is Unfair While What We Create Seems Reasonable.

Like Liberty, Equality Can Also Be Understood In Its Negative And Positive Aspects. Since The Emergence Of The Idea Of ​​ Equality, It Has Been Engaged In Eliminating Certain Privileges, Be They Feudal, Social, Economic Etc. Thus Negatively, Equality Was Associated With An 'End Of Such Privileges'. In A Positive Way, It Meant 'Availability Of Opportunity' So That Each Person Gets Equal Opportunity To Develop His Personality.

Laski views on Equality: 

I) Lack Of Special Privileges. This Means That The Will Of One Is Equal To The Will Of The Other. It Means Equality Of Rights

II) That There Are Enough Opportunities Available To All. It Depends On The Training Given To The Citizens. The Power That Ultimately Matters In Society Is The Power To Use Knowledge; Inequalities In Education Result Above All In The Form Of Inequalities In The Ability To Exercise That Power. Every Person Should Be Given An Opportunity To Understand The Implications Of His Personality.

III) Everyone Should Have Access To Social Benefits And No One Should Be Restricted On Any Grounds. Inequalities By Birth Or By Paternity And Hereditary Reasons Are Unfair.

IV) Absence Of Economic And Social Exploitation.

The Relationship Between Equality And Liberty Has Been One Of The Interesting Controversies Of Liberalism. The Crux Of The Controversy Is: Do Liberty And Equality Contradict Or Complement Each Other?

How does Liberty And Equality are Contrast To Each Other in practice ?

Classical Liberalism Gave So Much Importance To Liberty That Equality Became Its Slave. He Believed That Liberty Is Natural And Also Equality. Thus, Liberty And Equality Are Naturally Opposed To Each Other. Early Liberal Thinkers Such As Locke, Adam Smith, Bentham, James Mill And Tocqueville Felt That There Should Be Minimal Restrictions On The Liberty Of The Individual. For Example, Locke Did Not Include Equality In His List Of Three Natural Rights.


Liberalism, During This Era Was Based On The Concept Of Free Markets And Open Competition Among Egotistically Rational Individuals And Held That The Outcome Of Economic Competition, Though Unequal, Is Altruistic And Progressive. This Legalization Of Inequality Had Great Emphasis And Commitment To The Principle Of Individualism. They Believe That A Political Program To Secure Financial And Social Inequalities, Social Equality Of Conditions Or Equality Of Outcome Would Require Large-Scale Social And Political Regulation By The State Resulting In An Authoritarian And Authoritarian Regime. The Quest For Equality Has Led To Inequality And Tyranny In Practice. According To Hayek, 'The Fact That People Are So Different Follows That If We Treat Them Equally, The Result Must Be A Disparity In Their Real Situation And The Only Way To Keep Them In The Same Position Is By Treating Them Differently.


How does equality and liberty are complimentary to each other ?


Positive Liberals Held That Liberty And Equality Complemented Each Other And That The State Was Tasked With Correcting Social And Economic Imbalances Through Legislation And Regulation. Supporters Of This Approach Are Rousseau, Maitland, Th Green, Hobhouse, Lindsay, Rh Tawney, Barker, Laski, Macpherson Etc. Positive Liberalism Viewed The Individual As A Social Being Whose Individual Desires Can Be Satisfied In The Context Of A Cooperative Society. Relationships Within A Social Environment. It Interpreted Liberty As ' Equality Of Opportunity', Which Meant That Every Individual Should Be Given The Opportunity To Understand The 'Implications Of His Personality'. Wealth Inequality Results In The Division Of Society Between Rich And Poor Where The Rich Use Their Wealth To Seize Power And Use It For Their Own Selfish Purposes. Similarly, If There Is Social Inequality, People Cannot Enjoy Freedom. For Example, Untouchables, Scheduled Castes And Tribes Who Are Socially And Economically Unequal Cannot Enjoy Freedom.


But Still There Are Reasons To Think That Liberty Matters More Than Equality. This Is More Because It Is More Closely Associated With The Supreme Value Of The Personality Than With The Spontaneous Development Of One's Own Abilities. It Is More Because 'The Cause Of Liberty Unites People In One Thing That Each And All Can Have, Whereas The Cause Of Equality, Especially Suppressed, Sinks Them Into The Envy Of Perceived Forms Of adaptive Differences'. And Creates Division Instead Of Unity.

Understanding of Social, Political And Economic Freedom 
Political Equality: The Basis Of Inequality In Political Matters Is Knowledge (Plato), Religion And God (Monarchy), Birth (Elite), Wealth (Plutocracy), Color (South Africa), Race (Hitler), Aristocracy (Pareto, Mosca) Used To Be. ) Etc. Political Equality Is Associated With Democratic Institutions And The Right To Participate In The Political Process. The Demand For Political Equality Is Summed Up In 'one Man One Vote'.




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