Rawls’ Difference Principle and Affirmative Action (Essay Sample)

Rawls’ Difference Principle and Affirmative Action Student's Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name Professor's Name Date Rawls’ Difference Principle and Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a common term in today’s society. It represents the positive efforts by the government or organizations to increase the opportunities in the workplace or education sector for the underrepresented sections of the society by taking into consideration factors like gender, color, race, religion, sexual orientation, and national origin (Souryal & Whitehead, 2020). In the past, it was common practice for a certain candidate who applied for a position to be accorded some form of preferential treatment in the interviews; this was rarely based on their qualification for the job. For example, men would be preferred in certain organizations even without the right qualifications, and women who were qualified would not be picked. As such, governments and organizations instituted the policy of affirmative action to try and curb such poor actions. Affirmative action came to solve the social inequalities existent in society. Rawls’ theory of justice in a way incorporated this policy in his difference principle. This paper will discuss Rawls’ difference principle and how affirmative action fits into it; it will also talk about a case scenario of a criminal justice professional getting favoured in a promotion instead of a less-privileged person and how they can justify it. John Rawls, an American philosopher came up with the theory of justice. The theory has two principles that talk about social and economic justice. The first principle talks about the presence of equality when assigning basic rights and duties. It is about equal liberty and Rawls (2009) states that every person must be afforded equal basic rights such as the freedom of speech a, right of property and political liberties, among others. The second has two parts – one part is about the equality of opportunity and the second part is the difference principle (Souryal & Whitehead, 2020). The difference principle states that social and income inequalities are just only when they benefit the least advantaged members of the society or as Rawls called them, “the worst off”. It comes in when the resources mentioned in his first principle, income and welfare, are present and the distribution though unequal is considered just because it benefits the less-privileged members of the society. The difference principle requires that positions in the society responsible for the administration of a state should be accessible to everyone, such that everyone have equal rights to apply for positions in such places (Rawls, 2009). It goes further and states that these institutions will permit inequalities to ensure those worst- off benefit from the jobs. In this regard, Rawls articulated affirmative action in the difference principle by stating that it is just to have income and welfare inequalities which benefit the minorities. Affirmative action is about increasing opportunities for the marginalized/minorities in society, and this is exactly what the difference principle discusses. It is about providing more opportunities to the least advantaged, which Rawls’ difference principle proposes. In the past, minorities in society were often denied opportunities in employment and education facilities as the less-qualified majority were accepted in such fields. Affirmative action came to bring some social justice by increasing the opportunities in work and schools for those least advantaged in the society. Rawls’ difference principle incorporated the affirmative action policy where the philosopher states that social and economic injustices are just if they maximize the benefits going to the minorities in a society. Rawls supports the increment of opportunities for minority groups such as women, persons with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community. A criminal justice professional who has been passed over for a promotion in favor of a less-qualified minority person can justify their promotion using Rawl’s Theory of Justice. In the first part, Rawls talks about equality when assigning basic rights and duties and the second part talks about the equality of opportunity (Souryal & Whitehead, 2020). Though society is currently encouraging affirmative action, the criminal justice professional is also entitled to equality in promotion opportunities. Promoting a less-qualified minority in place of a professional is not what affirmative action proposes. If at all, it will be denying justice to the qualified individual. Hence, the criminal justice professional can justify their promotion using the right to equality as proposed by Rawls’ difference principle. In a democratic society, the constitution provides that everyone has rights and liberties. Rawls stated that the most fundamental ones must be protected and not negotiated for any value as they provide the chance for everyone to be equal and free in a nation (2009). Thus, for the criminal justice professional, their justification can come from the Constitution. They can use the Preamble of the US constitution which is a summary of the intention of the Founding Fathers for the country. The preamble of the Constitution states that the Constitution is meant to create a perfect union, establish justice, provide domestic...