Doing justice
Subtitle: liberalism, group constructs, and individual realities
By: Leroy H. Pelton.
Series: SUNY series in deviance and social control
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Liberalism -- United States.; Individualism -- United States.; Political planning -- United States.; Social groups -- Government policy -- United States.; Social justice -- United States.
Description: Offering a new way of thinking about liberalism and public policies, this book contends that group-based policies, predicated on all manner of group construction, pervade public policy. Although many of these policies are considered to be liberal, they are all discriminatory in essence. For example, the Social Security Act of 1935, although regarded as the foundation of modern liberalism, is riddled with group-based policies that are inconsistent with the principle of nondiscrimination.

This book examines other examples of group-based discrimination in such diverse areas as public welfare and child welfare, drug and gambling laws, drunk driving laws, criminal justice, and foreign policy. Pelton argues that the true roots of liberalism are found in nondiscrimination and respect for the individual. Doing Justice proposes just that - nondiscriminatory, individual-oriented policies in place of each of the group-based policies that are analyzed.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.