What is Property-Owning Democracy?

Abstract

After the publication of A Theory of Justice in 1971, John Rawls was often read as an advocate of a more moderate type of capitalism. However, authors such as DiQuattro, Krouse and McPherson have argued that Rawlsian theory cannot be seen as an advocacy of the capitalist regime. DiQuattro first, followed by Krouse and McPherson, argued that Rawls was an advocate of Property-Owning Democracy. Rawls, in later works, most notably Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (published in 2001), acknowledged defending the Property-Owning Democracy. But what would Property-Owning Democracy be? The aim of this paper is precisely to present the history of the concept, highlighting the fact that it emerged in the cradle of the British Conservative Party and later entered the ranks of the Labour Party through the revisionists. It is in this context that we will research the economist James Meade's defense of Property-Owning Democracy, which Rawls recognizes as his inspiration. The differences between Rawlsian thought and that defended by Meade will also be explored, with special emphasis on the fact that, in the British economist's view, there is a defense of Property-Owning Democracy as an alternative for capitalism (e.g., aiming to improve and correct the capitalist regime), while for the American philosopher it is presented from the perspective of an alternative to capitalism (in the sense of replacing and overcoming it).