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Current speaker I honestly don't know whether I favor the construction of a property-owning democracy (as Rawls and his followers understand it). But I recently read an article by Thad Williamson in which he tried to make the concept concrete. More specifically, he attempted to spell out several constitutional amendments that would constitute major steps toward a property-owning democracy. Here's what he advocates, in his own words:

"In the American context, realizing property-owning democracy in a stable form will require five constitutional guarantees:

  1. A right to an equal public education.
  2. A right to a minimum income and/or the means for supporting one's self
    at a minimal level of social acceptability.
  3. Explicit limitations on corporate political activity and provision of a public system of campaign financing.
  4. An individual right to a share of society's productive capital and/or wealth.
  5. A community right to sufficient productive capital to sustain a viable local democratic community."


He goes on to specify what each of these would mean, but I think this list gives some idea of what he is advocating. [See "Constitutionalizing Property-Owning Democracy" by Thad Williamson.]


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