Redistributive philosophies

Complete the following table by selecting the redistributive philosophy that matches each statement.

Statement Utilitarianism Libertarianism Liberalism

The government should choose policies

to maximize the total utility of everyone

in society.

The government should choose policies

deemed to be just, as evaluated by an

impartial observer behind a "veil of ignorance."

The government should punish crimes and

enforce voluntary agreements, but not redistribute income.

Suppose that Ginny believes that the progressive U. S. tax system is flawed because it supports equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity. Which re-distributive philosophy is consistent with Ginny's view?

A. Liberalism

B. Libertarianism

C. Utilitarianism

The government should choose policies to maximize the total utility of everyone in society - Utilitarianism

The central goal of Utilitarianism is simply to maximize everyone's benefit (or utility) in society.

The government should choose policies deemed to be just, as evaluated by an impartial observer behind a "veil of ignorance." - Liberalism

This is the central idea of a "Theory of Justice", a book written by John Rawls. This idea has come to represent the ethical justification behind the redistributive philosophy of liberals.

The government should punish crimes and enforce voluntary agreements, but not redistribute income - Libertarianism

Libertarians believed that income redistribution by the government is unfair because the government takes income from the some people without their consent, and gives it to other people. Libertarians support private charity instead.

Suppose that Ginny believes that the progressive U. S. tax system is flawed because it supports equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity. Which re-distributive philosophy is consistent with Ginny's view?

Both liberalism and libertarianism can be ascribed to Ginny's view. Liberals and libertarians do not support equality of outcome, they support equality of opportunity.

The difference lies in the degree of inequality that they are able to tolerate: liberals only tolerate inequality up to a certain port, while libertarians do not really have a problem with inequality as long as it is the result of market outcomes.