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6 POLITICAL EQUALIT Y THOMAS CHRISTIAN O INTRODUCTION Philosophical thinkin g abou t democrac y ha s no t com e ver y fa r in spellin g ou t th e standard s tha t legitimat e democrati c institu tions shoul d meet . Politica l philosopher s an d theorist s hav e no t got beyond genera l justifications o f democracy an d som e vagu e outlines of what the ideal they use in justifying democrac y migh t entail whe n i t come s t o definin g standard s fo r institutions. 1 Elsewhere I hav e worked ou t a justification o f politica l equalit y in term s o f a conceptio n o f egalitaria n justic e tha t require s equality i n th e distribution o f resources. I have show n ho w tha t notion o f equalit y ough t t o appl y i n circumstance s o f conflic t over certai n goods . Those good s ar e wha t I call collective prop erties o f society , whic h ar e define d a s propertie s tha t affec t al l or mos t peopl e i n som e way , goo d o r bad . I hav e argue d tha t these good s ough t t o be chosen b y means o f collective decision making procedure s an d tha t th e resource s fo r determinin g th e outcome o f thes e procedure s ough t t o b e distribute d equally. 2 Here I elaborate on what the idea of political equality involves . The questio n is , what i s a coheren t an d plausibl e conceptio n of politica l equalit y tha t wil l fit withi n th e constraint s impose d by th e argumen t fo r politica l equality ? I n particular , wha t ar e the relation s betwee n procedura l an d politica l equality ? M y mai n 152 THOMAS CHRISTIAN O conclusion i s tha t procedura l equalit y ha s a fa r les s significan t role to play in an egalitarian theor y of democracy tha n i s usually thought. This i s s o eve n whe n w e tr y t o insulat e th e politica l proces s from disparitie s o f wealt h i n society . I t i s necessar y t o hav e a collective decision-makin g procedur e tha t i s insulated fro m th e distribution o f economi c resource s sinc e ope n exchange s be tween th e economic and th e politica l realms would likel y lead t o neglect of collective interests . The firs t difficult y i n constructin g a notio n o f procedura l equality i s that thos e criteria associated wit h it allow for indeter minacies i n outcome. I n orde r t o get determinate outcomes , w e will eithe r hav e t o violat e on e o f th e condition s o f procedura l equality o r w e shal l hav e t o expan d th e concep t o f politica l equality t o include resource s tha t ar e no t procedural . A secon d difficulty arise s whe n w e conside r tha t t o b e full y egalitaria n a procedure mus t b e globa l i n th e sens e tha t i t settles al l relevan t issues a s a package . Thi s i s becaus e a n egalitaria n theor y re quires comparison s betwee n complet e lif e prospects . Sinc e thi s procedure canno t wor k i n ou r worl d an d furthermore , sinc e the outcomes of partial procedures, when adde d up , are not th e same a s th e outcom e o f a globa l procedure , w e hav e anothe r serious difficulty fo r procedura l equality . Social-choice theorist s hav e analyse d th e propertie s o f proce dures an d i t i s fro m the m tha t w e ca n...

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