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Justice and Mulit-Party Politics

COGLEY, CHARLES ZACHARY
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin998064401

Abstract Details

2002, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Philosophy.
In the thesis entitled "Justice and Multi-Party Politics" I argue that minor-party candidates in the United States cannot fairly compete in elections with major-party candidates. In an attempt to understand their situation I turn to the theory of justice advanced by John Rawls. But Rawls’s approach runs into difficulties when suggesting ways in which we might improve the situation for minor-party candidates. I therefore suggest that we also utilize the concept of the public sphere, as elucidated by Jürgen Habermas, to see our way clear of the difficulties. But Habermas, while providing a better account of the problem, still fails to give a satisfactory proposal for improving the situation. I therefore enlist the theoretical insights of Nancy Fraser and Iris Young, who suggest that the public sphere will operate most fairly when it is actually made up of multiple heterogeneous publics. Political parties are examples of publics, so I consider whether adopting reforms that would encourage a multi-party system would result in a more just political process. Additional parties might help some groups, especially those that have historically lacked political voice, a greater role in government. But additional parties could also serve to fragment social movements or even to allocate additional resources to hate groups. After considering some of the problems that a multi-party American political system might face, I argue that the potential benefits of such a system outweigh the risks if certain reforms are adopted and party building begins at the local level and builds upward.
Chris Cuomo (Advisor)
42 p.
Rawls; Fraser; Young; Habermas; Justice; Public Sphere; Multi-Party Politics; Third Party Politics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • COGLEY, C. Z. (2002). Justice and Mulit-Party Politics [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin998064401

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • COGLEY, CHARLES. Justice and Mulit-Party Politics. 2002. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin998064401.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • COGLEY, CHARLES. "Justice and Mulit-Party Politics." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2002. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin998064401

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin998064401
996
© 2002, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.