Economic Justice versus Political Participation

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Human Rights and Economic Justice
Political Participation and Individual Well-being
Economic Justice and Society Well-being
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Over the past five decades, there has been an impressive evolution that has triggered an intense debate on human rights. Economic justice is an issue that was first proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, when they made a Universal declaration on Human Rights.

This was an awareness that was made publicly as it necessitated the need to defend and execute human rights, an issue that had remarkably grown. There is however some hidden powers both, political and economic which thwarts the process of exercising human rights around the world.

Nevertheless, some organizational bodies such as religious groups have shown tremendous efforts in the process of building consciousness that ensures that economic justice is endorsed, defended, and improved where possible. Since the formation of Amnesty International in 1955, contributions towards economic justice are quite remarkable.

The efforts portrayed by such organizational bodies cannot be overlooked, neither disqualified by political powers, nor the economical interests. Considering that economic justice mostly entails Human Rights, it is therefore an imperative aspect as compared to the issues of political recognition.

Here, political recognition involves fighting for political power at various intervals, all in the name of engaging in legal or illegal protest. The individuals involved are always hopeful that at least the actions undertaken will have some impact on the government, which in turn may have positive response towards the common citizen (Arrow, 1950).

Usually, political recognition is not aimed at ensuring economic justice but instead it is there to ensure the economy is running out well, but not on the way resources are distributed. In this light, this paper shall succinctly discuss and critically evaluate the claim that the issue of economic justice is more fundamental than the issues of political participation or political recognition.

Human Rights and Economic Justice

Human rights, which may incorporate the social justices within a given society, may involve the norms that govern how people relate and interact in the society. In essence, human rights may exist as political norms, which to an extent will be involved to govern the social conduct of individuals within the society.

Bueno de Mesquita et al. (2003) argue that there are always some tradeoffs in applying the concept of human rights. Human rights can be considered important when people are prepared to forgo their personal interests. In many instances, people are concerned with the formulation of development rights and economic justice because they influence other rights, such as the right to social wellbeing.

Additionally, economic justice may exist as moral, or a legal right. Human justice can exist as: (1) a shared norm of actual human moralities; (2) as a justified moral norm that is endorsed by concrete reasons; (3) as a legal right; and (4) as a legal right within the international law. It is therefore expected that an economic justice to the four aspects should be incorporated.

In most cases, political participation does not entail any legal formalities since it is a system that is used to select the required candidates who are to represent the entire society in the government. Justice is therefore not an issue when it comes to political participation, only the influential candidates in the society are considered the best by the citizens (Cohen, 1985).

In most developing and underdeveloped countries, there is no democracy in choosing the right candidates in the political arena; individuals are mostly selected regarding their social statues. In essence, social justice or human rights are very minimal, or slightly considered in the society. They are mostly concerned with avoiding chaos in the society that may inhibit economic growth within the nation.

This is in contrast with political participation which is mostly concerned with achieving the best, but here the positive outcome gained goes to the privileged in the society. While economic justice tries to reduce the gap between the wealthy and the poor, political participation is there to widen the gap. In other words, in a political environment, the rich goes on accelerating their wealth while the poor becomes poorer (Finkel, 1985).

Economic justice or social equality may also be termed international norms. Typically, many countries embrace this issue, considering that justice is an aspect which can be applied anywhere in any country as opposed to political participation. For instance, equal distribution of resources and income is an issue which ought to be practiced by all nations because they may share one or two things which might be common.

As opposed to this, Deci and Ryan (2000) note that political participation entails pushing the government to enact policies. Political participation can be exercised through voting, engaging in lawful or unlawful protests, and forming political movements with the aim of being recognized in the political arena. The mentioned aspects of political recognition cannot amount to life satisfaction and happiness as compared to social justice.

Political Participation and Individual Well-being

Contemporary social science assumes that individuals are concerned with the outcome of their actions – for example, rewards or penalties, which can be thought of as utility maximization. However, recent studies have outlined that people receive satisfaction from stages of an action.

This can be termed ‘procedural utility’. According to Blaise and Gelineau (2007), individuals are mainly concerned with both the end results of a process, and the way decisions are made in the processes of receiving satisfaction.

Research from psychology asserts that people struggle to be autonomous in what they do, related with others and experienced in what they do, and some approaches are essential in the realization of these outcomes than others. Therefore, to some extent, political participation or political recognition can help individual realize autonomy, relatedness, and experience.

People see themselves as unique when they participate in political events like voting for state governors and contributing their ideas in public forums. Such autonomy can only be realized through democratic governance, which allow people to do as they wish.

However, considering that economic justice may merely refer to the economic development or economic growth, it may directly or indirectly mean that it may slightly refer to a political recognition or participation.

Supposing that the essential obvious individual level-reward sprouts out from the effort of being autonomous, which is cognitive, emotional, and a behavioral sense of independence, it may also explain economic justice as being fundamental as compared to a political recognition.

Having a self-sufficient economic condition is not brought by being democratic, but instead a democratic environment is the outcome of self-sufficiency (Hobsbawn, 1994). This will therefore mean unless economic justice is well nurtured, a political participation can never be felt in any given environment.

For one to have a political recognition, there ought to be individuals’ efforts in making of decisions that shape people’s social habitat, and this is a clear indication that one must have a predominant participation in the common life.

It is after an individual has gained sovereignty that he/she can enjoy being politically recognized because now the society has little or no issues at hand, which they require the government to fulfill for them. As it has been asserted by Barbers estimation when he quotes Aristotle:

“The man who is isolated, who is unable to share in the benefits of political association, or has no need to share because he is already self-sufficient, is not part of the polis, and therefore must be either a beast or a god” (Barber, 1984, p.89). Without a sense of economic justice within our midst, human beings cannot feel the sense of being politically recognized.

Although the proponents of political participation focus on the advantages of that recognition for personal prosperity, there are some worries on this eagerness of participation. There is no clear evidence that someone who participates in any political event can be certain of individual satisfaction (Blais & Gelineau, 2007).

For instance, when an individual votes for a party which fails in the election, he/she may feel less satisfied than another person who is a nonvoter.

In addition, an individual who engages in protests on controversial policies like legalization of same sex marriages, but at the end such policies are passed by majority, he/she remains unsatisfied by the decision made. This shows that an individual my fail to realize his/her self-esteem in the political arena, and thus political recognition might lack meaning.

Economic Justice and Society Well-being

In a political environment, most people want their presence to be felt; they want to be autonomous, have a close understanding with other people, and moreover be competent in their lives. The environment or the condition around them may not allow them to enjoy such benefits, and they may therefore be compelled to use all the ways and means to acquire a status in the society.

It is in the due course of looking for justice in the society that certain evils crop in. In other words, they find themselves practicing social injustices in the society, all in the name of acquiring a status quo in the society. This means that the society will be denied some social amenities so that they can accept a certain change or choose a certain person, in whom they are convinced that he/she can bring the changes they require.

In this light, without economic justice, political participation cannot stand on its own. From the economic point of view, it is clear that an economic development occurs when there is self-dependent progress. Self-dependent economy means that even the common citizens are economically recognized, in that, they do not lack the day to day resources.

Such a situation or condition will definitely make people become themselves, besides affirming their identity in the society. As indicated by Samuel Parmar, an Indian economist, economic justice is one thing, while political recognition is another thing. He further indicates that political participation cannot be practiced without ensuring an economic justice (Blais & Gelineau, 2007).

Moreover, Parmar endorses the idea that people live in a world in which dependence is a necessity, and therefore it is possible to have economic justice than being politically recognized, and yet the economy is dilapidating.

This is because human beings want first to be self-reliant before disseminating the same to others. If then, political participation is to be entrusted in bringing forth economic justice; this will take centuries before being realized. Samuel Parmar goes on to specify that economic justice is noticeable through the ideas, values, and goals that are initiated by the economic elites.

If the ideas initiated are economic-oriented, then that means an economic development, but if the same does not have any indication this would mean that those who pretend to be political elites are there to oppress the society in order to fulfill their own life desires.

Usually, economic justice is thwarted by those nations that consider themselves as being developed. These countries are always on the run to influence the developing and the underdeveloped nations.

Countries in the south ( mostly developing and underdeveloped) tend to think that having an economic justice is all about being industrialized, a notion that pushes them into acquiring ideas and thoughts from developed countries, and therefore they lose their ability to develop and implement their own ideas, and their ingenuity.

The ideas borrowed will partially solve some problems and this is because the economic condition between the developed and the developing or underdeveloped countries do not conform to each other. In essence, Economic justice springs out political participation, which offers an opportunity for citizens to feel a sense of belonging (Hobsbawm, 1994).

Qualifying economic justice to God’s guidelines can also be an aspect that may regard social justice as being fundamental, as compared to political participation. This categorization positions economic justice at a metaphysical point, although in an ever changing world, economic justice being linked to God’s instructions does not qualify it to be considered safe from criticism.

It must be recognized that not everyone believes in the God of Christianity, Judaism or Islamic. Therefore, if this is true and you want people to believe in it, and supposing you base your arguments on Gods command, one ought to back-up the ideas in theological view.

Convincing them to view economical justice in such perspective will be difficult, considering the diversity of the religions. Therefore, if only they are legally enacted at both the national and international level, they will appear unsafe in the society (Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001).

Similarly, economic justice entails the government of a country being vividly involved in the fair distribution of its natural and artificial resources. Imposing these laws and regulations in a country brings mutual cohesion and understanding within a nation. Henceforth, the citizens of a country can engage in vigorous work in a country for nation building and development.

Nevertheless, through the government efforts can bring forth harmony and stability in a nation. Political stability can provide good grounds for foreign investors to eye their resources in a country, leading to a boost in a nation’s revenue (Finkel, 1985).

Therefore, the inflation rate which tends to paralyze a country economics’ stand can be technically evaded. In the instance of economic justice not exercised, a lot of malpractices can be witnessed, such as tribal crashes, rioting, and corruption as people try to fight for their rights. This may slow down economic growth, and lead to big losses, and debts incurred by a country.

This may also lead to lack of employment among citizens as companies try to sash down labor to cut their expenses. Afterwards, due to unemployment and poverty, there can be increased cases of insecurity due to theft and armed robbery. Insecurity can create a bad image for a country worldwide, which can lead to foreign investors not investing in a country.

A country with such a bad image may be neglected by other nations, thus giving room for vices such as rape, murder, corruption, bribery, and many more, which may go unreported, and if reported no stern actions can be taken. It is therefore important to take necessary actions to achieve economic justice in a country so that the political, social, and economic stability of a country be attained (Blais & Gélineau, 2007).

Conclusion

Economic justice is a vital and imperative aspect which ought to be embraced by the developing and underdeveloped nations, considering that they are still lagging behind in terms of industrialization. This is because they have not been able to substantiate between the issues in economic policy over those in political participation.

The literature above gives us the reason why a nation should opt for economic justice against political participation. As it has been discussed, those who embrace political participation are likely to overlook economic justice. This is because they will mostly be involved in satisfying their own needs before engaging themselves in the needs of the society.

Finally, through our empirical investigation, we have discovered that economic justice is always consistent – but un-theorized – negative relationship between enforced compulsory voting and happiness: in countries where there are enforced compulsory voting, people are less happy. In this respect, the issue of economic justice is more fundamental than the issues of political participation or political recognition.

References

Arrow, K.J., 1950. A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare. Journal of Political Economy, 58 (4), pp 328-46.

Barber, B. 1984. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Blais, A. & F. Gélineau, 2007, Winning, Losing and Satisfaction with Democracy. Political Studies, 55, pp. 425-41.

Bueno de Mesquita, B. et al. 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, US: MIT Press.

Cohen, R.L., 1985. Procedural Justice and Participation. Human Relations, 38(7), pp. 643-63.

Cohen-Charash, Y. & Spector, P.E., 2001. The Role of Justice in Organizations: A Meta-Analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86(2), pp. 278-321.

Deci, E.L. & Ryan, R.M., 2000. The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), pp. 227-68.

Finkel, S.E, 1985. Reciprocal Effects of Participation and Political Efficacy: A Panel Analysis. American Journal of Political Science, 29(4), pp. 891-913.

Hobsbawm, E. 1994. The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991. London: Michael Joseph.

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