Ch 13Equality — Class 11 Political Science, concept-first.

Equality is one of the values our Constitution promises to every citizen, and this chapter asks what that promise actually means in practice.

Equality is a powerful moral and political ideal that has shaped human society for centuries. It is implicit in the teachings of most major faiths, which hold that all human beings share a common orig…

Think about signs that were once common in parts of the American South: "Coloured Served in Rear," separate drinking fountains marked "White" and "Coloured," and rest rooms marked "White Only." Every…

Equality of opportunity is the idea that every person, simply by virtue of being human, is entitled to the same basic rights and opportunities to develop their skills and talents and to pursue their o…

Political theory sometimes distinguishes between two broad kinds of inequality: natural inequalities and socially-produced inequalities.

Once we have thought about which kinds of social differences are acceptable and which are not, the next question is what we are actually trying to achieve when we pursue equality.

In a democratic society, political equality normally means granting equal citizenship to every member of the state.

Political equality — equality before the law — is an essential first step towards a just society, but on its own it is often not enough. It needs to be supplemented by equality of opportunity.

At the simplest level, economic inequality exists in a society whenever there are significant differences in wealth, property or income between individuals or classes.

We have already seen some of the basic disagreements between socialists and liberals over the best way to achieve equality — one side stressing public control over key economic resources, the other st…

The very first step towards bringing about equality is, naturally, ending the formal system of inequality and privilege that custom and law have historically protected.

As noted earlier, formal equality — equality guaranteed on paper, by law — is a necessary step, but by itself it is not sufficient to actually realise the full principle of equality.

Affirmative action rests on the idea that establishing formal legal equality is not, by itself, sufficient wherever inequality is deeply rooted in a society.