The Ethics of Social Democracy: Justice Meets Capitalism

Many people in modern democracies support capitalism and multi-party representative government, with civil and political liberties protected by their country's constitution.They also support political measures to improve citizens' lives and to substantially reduce the economic inequalities that capitalist enterprise would otherwise create.They support policies for taxation, government expenditure, and economic growth that favor those with lower incomes over those who are well-off.This includes preference not only for the poor, but for any citizen who lacks effective access to medical care, advanced education, and cultural enrichment.This political program is often labeled "social democracy."In The Ethics of Social Democracy Richard W.Miller offers a moral justification for the pursuit of social democracy in advanced capitalist democracies, and he addresses how people living outside of that socioeconomic context should respond to local conflicts between the economic and the political go