Democratic Justice

Ian Shapiro is professor of political science at Yale University. His books include Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory: A Critique of Applications in Political Science.

“A compelling attempt to map philosophical arguments about justice on to some of the contours of actual political practice.”—David Runciman, Times Literary Supplement“For Shapiro, the political comes first in political theory. He labors to make theoretical arguments about democracy and justice yield specific guidance to mundane policy. The attempt is heroic and often persuasive. . . . This is an ambitious book and worth the reader’s attention.”—David Speak, Journal of Politics"Ian Shapiro has always been distinguished, among other ways, by his rigorous insistence on grounding the enterprise of political theory in the practical facts of history and social existence. His work has consistently spurned the temptation to take refuge in formalistic mystifications or conceptual shortcuts such as the device of assuming an ideal starting point, pristine from the messy complexities of the world we actually inhabit. This quality defined his approach to the critique of the trajectory of liberalism undertaken in his first book, The Evolution of Rights in Liberal Theory and in his critique of recent trends in academic theorizing in Political Criticism. It has taken a more positive expression in Democracy's Place, as he took up the warrants of his conviction that 'political theory is most fruitfully developed in applied contexts."In Democratic Justice he takes this project yet further by arguing for a substantively grounded view that concerns with democracy and concerns with social justice are inevitably linked, and he advances this argument by closely reasoned, practically rooted examination of the warrants of democratic justice in crucial domains of social life as we live it. Democratic Justice is classic Shapiro. It lays out an unsentimental, probing, and, above all, concrete account that reinforces his place as a breath of fresh air in a field often too sterile, techisistic and politically naïve to be of much use to anyone other than its practitioners. This book instead contributes significantly to a discussion to the status of democracy as a practice and ideal that extends well beyond the walls of the academy."—Adolph Reed, Jr.“Shapiro’s argument is wonderfully lucid. His book should quickly find a wide readership and a prominent place in the justice debates.”—Michael Walzer, author of Spheres of Justice and On Toleration“Ian Shapiro successfully tackles not only one but both of the great divides in contemporary political philosophy—that between fair procedures and good outcomes, and that between theory and practice. And he leaves no doubt that the whole is much more interesting than the sum of its parts. In this book, facts and values really do—as they must—inform each other.”—Jennifer L. Hochschild, Princeton University“Democratic Justice is classic Shapiro. It lays out an unsentimental, probing and, above all, concrete account that contributes significantly to a discussion of the status of democracy as a practice and ideal that extends well beyond the walls of the academy.”—Adolph Reed, Jr., New School for Social Research“Applying deceptively simple principles of participation and suspicion of hierarchy, Ian Shapiro crafts a set of original, concrete, and sweeping arguments about how basic social institutions such as family and workplace should be organized.”—Iris Young, University of Pittsburgh