
Republic of Equals
Predistribution and Property-Owning Democracy
Alan Thomas(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 7. February 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
472 pages
978-0-19-092954-1 (ISBN)
Description
The first book length study of property-owning democracy, Republic of Equals argues that a society in which capital is universally accessible to all citizens is uniquely placed to meet the demands of justice. Arguing from a basis in liberal-republican principles, this expanded conception of the economic structure of society contextualizes the market to make its transactions fair. The author shows that a property-owning democracy structures economic incentives such that the domination of one agent by another in the market is structurally impossible. The result is a renovated form of capitalism in which the free market is no longer a threat to social democratic values, but is potentially convergent with them. It is argued that a property-owning democracy has advantages that give it priority over rival forms of social organization such as welfare state capitalism and market socialist institutions. The book also addresses the currently high levels of inequality in the societies of the developed West to suggest a range of policies that target the "New Inequality" of our times. For this reason, the work engages not only with political philosophers such as John Rawls, Philip Pettit and John Tomasi, but also with the work of economists and historians such as Anthony B. Atkinson, Francois Bourguignon, Jacob S. Hacker, Lane Kenworthy, and Thomas Piketty.
Reviews / Votes
Thomas's vision of an egalitarian property-owning democracy is powerful and compelling...Thomas arguably provides the best hope that liberal democratic states have for ensuring greater justice and also repairing what has broken in our current democratic theory and practice. * Political Theory*
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
794 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-092954-1 (9780190929541)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
01/2017
Oxford University Press Inc
€227.00
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
11/2016
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€24.99
Available for download
Person
Alan Thomas is currently Professor of Ethics at the University of York. Educated at Cambridge, Harvard (as a Kennedy Scholar), and Oxford Universities he has held visiting appointments at the University of British Columbia, Tulane University, St. Louis University and the Australian National University. His interests in philosophy include moral and political philosophy, epistemology and the philosophy of mind
Content
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Rawls, Republicanism and Liberal-republicanism
- Chapter Two: Justice, Pareto and Equality.
- Chapter Three: G. A. Cohen's neo-Marxist Critique of Rawls
- Chapter Five: Three Forms of Republican Egalitarianism.
- Chapter Six: A Liberal-republican Economic System
- Chapter Seven: Rawls's Critique of Welfare State Capitalism.
- Chapter Eight: Property-owning Democracy Versus Market Socialism
- Chapter Nine: Towards a Pluralistic Commonwealth
- Chapter Ten: Classical Liberalism and Property-owning Democracy
- Chapter Eleven: A Realistic Utopianism?
- Chapter Twelve: Inequality and Globalization
- Conclusion: Nothing is Obvious
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index