Oftentimes we consider how the law and public policy were interwoven one another for any fine appeal to the constituents and global public. Nonetheless, we are fairly never definite to suggest any hard picture of their relationship. It rather involves an issue of meditative process of philosophy, humanity and social justice as well as a wider of public contention from the purview of temporal and spatial evolution. The paper, in the face with this difficult conundrum, attempts (...) to highlight some of basics despite a surfeit of work products in this field. The paper begins with the instant queries or explanation from the peer scholar practitioners, which would be some of communication with the author. Then the author elicits some of principled relationship between the two concepts. (shrink)

We subsist under the law where we claim our rights and are obliged to do something enforced. What is a law? The question would be perplexing in history, and one of crucial themes with many lawyers or legal philosophers. As we know, two most important perspectives had earned a universal and historical forge in academics, to say, the natural law and legal positivism. The concept of natural law deals in its primacy for the humanity and natural order which often can (...) be traded as something inviolable or inalienable. The concept has strands in several aspects; (i) its anchor with the civil democratic revolution around 17 and 18 centuries (ii) its supremacy with the new constitutional states (iii) less quality as a realist law from ambiguities and lack of clear definition. The concept of public policy may be related with the social justice, ethics and administration. It generally pursues a justice and desired state of public or community where the tension and conflict always exist between the ruling class and citizens. Historically, the public policy could be mightier to address the society than law where the benevolent Kings or Sovereigns liked to address both their needs and social justice. They may abrogate, more in endowment and divinity, the laws or social customs. The tension between the public power and private interests could be one reason as well as offers a good dualism in understanding the rule of law concept and advent of modern democracy. In this dimension, the King would no longer be divine nor entitled to exercise a plenary power of state rule. Instead, the popular sovereignty in the US democracy or parliamentary type in the UK were to be established to resolve a feudal conflict within the class and society. Lighted to be in vein of influence could arise the two contexts which are a contractarian view and plutocracy desire of the founding fathers. They underlay the mood and philosophical ethos of US revolution. Hence, three concepts as a pillar in private law were sanctified in the very foundation of US constitutional state, sanctity of property right, freedom of contract and due limits for the civil liability. The governmental power should be limited to protect the life and limb of citizens which addressed the Hobbes’ evil, “war against all the rest.” The due process concept was expressed as a fundamental principle of constitution where the human rights are inviolable and inalienable. The separation of powers principle could serve the freedom and wealth of new civil class in the continent, and bicameralism was devised for the check and balance within the federal congress. They see the role of judicial branch is important to preserve their civil interest. Then we can derive some assumptions between the law and public policy. First, a law plays to protect the private interest while the public policy pursues the social justice and mediates the competing interests, “private v. private” and “public v. private.” The civil courts may address a first nature of conflict and the law of takings or regulatory laws may deal with the second aspect. Second, the public or administrative law can shape a legal plane of bureaucracies or public administration, and may guarantee the rule of law ideals. It plays as an enabling authority and, on the other, monitors an arbitrariness and unfairness in the bureaucratic government. In this context, the unresponsive and unfathomable bureaucracy in the Kafka’s could be remedied. Third, for the welfare state in the late 19th and 20th century, a law can well be seen as one of authoritative expression of public policy to redress the evils of capitalist states. Some public laws, such as the Sherman Act classically and Lanham Act recently, may act to regulate the monopoly or oligopoly while other laws were enacted to restore justice between the labor and employers. Through the chapters, the fundamentals of law and public policy will be considered to address their proper status. (shrink)

Self-authorship has been established as the basis of an influential liberal principle of legislation and public policy. Being the author of one’s own life is a significant component of one’s own well-being, and therefore is better understood from the viewpoint of the person whose life it is. However, most philosophical accounts, including Raz’s conception of self-authorship, rely on general and abstract principles rather than specific, individual psychological properties of the person whose life it is. We elaborate on the (...) principles of self-authorship on the basis of self-determination theory, an empirically based psychological theory that has been at the forefront of the study of autonomy and self-authorship for more than 45 years. Our account transcends distinctions between positive and negative freedom and attempts to pinpoint the exact properties of self-authorship within the psychological processes of intrinsic motivation and internalization. If a primary objective of public policy is to support self-authorship, then it should be devised on the basis of how intrinsic motivation and internalization can be properly supported. Self-determination theory identifies three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The satisfaction of these needs is associated with the support and growth of intrinsic tendencies and the advancement of well-being. Through this analysis, we can properly evaluate the significance of rationality, basic goods, and the availability of options to self-authorship. Implications for law and policy are discussed with an emphasis on legal paternalism and what many theorists call “liberal perfectionism,” that is, the non-coercive support and promotion of the good life. (shrink)

Many people look to religion to help resolve the serious moral and legal issues associated with assisted reproductive technologies. Doing so presupposes that religion is the cornerstone of ethics, but this assumption is not well founded. While various faiths are entitled to articulate their views on matters of human reproduction, the contradictions involved in doing so make it unwise to rely on religion in the formulation of law and policy. These contradictions – such as the indeterminacy about what revealed (...) truths means – make moral secular philosophy a better guide for the protection of human welfare. (shrink)

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse approaches to the sharing economy from the perspective of public policy science. In the first part of the text, attention is paid to perceiving the development of the emerging sharing economy not only as phenomenon with positive economic effects but also as a set of public problems (e.g., on the labour market and for existing economic structures) that require intervention at the level of national governments as well as at (...) international level. Subsequent sections identify possible actions for regulating the development of the sharing economy. The role of soft law, stakeholders’ networks, self-regulation and standardisation are discussed in the chapter. The summary includes potential directions for further research. (shrink)

The involvement of the public in the governance of genomics has become a topic of growing interest among scholars, practitioners and policy-makers. The implementation of public involvement programmes may be quite expensive, and the design and evaluation of public participation is a matter of controversy. Thus, this paper examines the justifications for public participation in the governance of genomic research to help understand whether public involvement is worthwhile and to provide a guide to the (...) design of public participation. I identify four primary justifications in support of public involvement. I argue that three of them have serious flaws: neither an increase in the stability of institutions, nor the positive effects on the virtues of individuals, nor the epistemic merits of participatory activities provide a solid ground for the engagement of the public in the governance of genomics. However, the ideal of legitimacy in the exercise of coercive power appears to lend strong support to public involvement programmes. Given that the reasons why public involvement is sought shape the design of the participatory activities, restricting the range of valid justifications promises to simplify the task of designing and evaluating public involvement. (shrink)

How should International Political Theory (IPT) relate to public policy? Should theorists aspire for their work to be policy- relevant and, if so, in what sense? When can we legitimately criticize a theory for failing to be relevant to practice? To develop a response to these questions, I will consider two issues: (1) the extent to which international political theorists should be concerned that the norms they articulate are precise enough to entail clear practical advice under different (...) empirical circumstances; (2) whether they should provide concrete practical advice on policy choice and institutional reform. These questions are related but distinct, and we should answer each quite differently. Regarding the first, I shall argue that it counts heavily against a theory if it is not precise enough to guide policy and reform given certain empirical assumptions. On the second, I will argue that theorists should be very cautious when engaging with questions of policy and institutional design. Some principles of IPT can be criticized for being insufficiently precise, but a degree of abstraction from concrete policy recommendations is a virtue, rather than a vice, of an element of IPT. I conclude that we should aim to be precise without being concrete. To help fix ideas and anchor my argument, I will discuss these issues with reference to a principle that John Rawls has advocated in his influential work The Law of Peoples (Rawls 1999a): a duty of assistance to societies that lack the capacity to satisfy the basic needs or protect the basic rights of their people. (shrink)

It started and ended in Chile! This might be the introductory sentence to an economic history of our times. After the 1973 military coup the “Chicago Boys”, a group of Chilean economists educated by Milton Friedman at University of Chicago, took control of Pinochet’s economic policy. A type of policy which later on entered government offices in the UK and the US together with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Today protesters on the streets of Santiago seeks to tear (...) down the core pillars of the paradigm installed by the Chicago boys. Looking at broader developments, the essential driver of change over the past four decades have however not been an economic one but rather a legal one. Or rather the essential change has been the economics discipline acting as an invasive species entering into the realm of law though the law and economics paradigm. (shrink)

The recent progression in AI, nanomedicine and robotics have increased concerns about ethics, policy and law. The increasing complexity and hybrid nature of AI and nanotechnologies impact the functionality of “law in action” which can lead to legal uncertainty and ultimately to a public distrust. There is an immediate need of collaboration between Central Asian biomedical scientists, AI engineers and academic lawyers for the harmonization of AI, nanomedicines and robotics in Central Asian legal system.

Disagreement is a pervasive feature of human discourse and a crucial force in shaping our social reality. From mundane squabbles about matters of taste to high-stakes disputes about law and public policy, the way we express and navigate disagreement plays a central role in both our personal and political lives. Legal discourse, in particular, is rife with disagreement - it is the very bread and butter of courtroom argument and legal scholarship alike. Consider a debate between two legal (...) philosophers, Ronald and Herbert, about the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits ‘cruel and unusual punishment’. Ronald asserts: ‘It is the law that capital punishment is prohibited’. In response, Herbert states: ‘It is not the law that capital punishment is prohibited’. We intuitively think Ronald and Herbert are disagreeing, which reveals in the fact that they are licensed to use ex¬pressions like no (it isn’t) and nuh-uh when responding to their opponent’s claim. But despite the ubiquity and significance of legal disagreement, its precise nature remains elusive. This chapter discusses what exactly is going on when two people disagree about what the law requires, and how can hybrid theory may answer this question. (shrink)

The state has always authoritatively used criminal law to give effect to its policy of condemning acts either antisocial or unacceptable to the conscience of the law and society. The existence of criminal law is well justified on grounds of ‘social welfare’ or “reinforcement of those values most basic to proper social functioning”. This initiates or sustains the process of criminalization. The relativity of ‘social welfare’ makes law ‘dynamic’ as well as ‘varying’, vis-à-vis its ambit and scope. Current scholarship (...) is critical of what is referred to as the trend of overcriminalization or rapid increase in criminalizing of acts, as leading to ‘uncertainty’ in criminal law. The rationale for such a critique is that there are activities that need not be labeled as offences if they do not possess the potential to cause damage that criminal law seeks to protect. In light of the overcriminalization critique, this paper examines the criminalization of certain offences labeled as public welfare offences. (shrink)

Background: Several countries have recently changed their model of consent for organ donation from opt-in to opt-out. We undertook a systematic review to determine public knowledge and attitudes towards these models in Europe. Methods: Six databases were explored between 1 January 2008 and 15 December 2017. We selected empirical studies addressing either knowledge or attitudes towards the systems of consent for deceased organ donation by lay people in Europe, including students. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted (...) by two or more reviewers independently. Findings: Awareness of the consent model was lower in opt-out countries than in opt-in countries. A majority of the public agrees with opt-in, regardless of the law in their own country. There are ambivalent attitudes regarding the opt-out system. The public tend to prefer opt-in and mandatory choice over opt-out when several options are offered. Interpretation: The assumption that people in opt-out countries are aware of the legal requirements to be excluded from the pool of potential donors is not supported by the results of this review. This is a concern, since ignorance hinders people's autonomy regarding organ donation decision-making. Higher awareness of consent model in opt-in countries may reflect greater efforts to inform the public through campaigns to motivate donation. Legal moves towards opt-out are at odds with people's expressed preferences. Main limitations of this review are the lack of data from some countries, study population heterogeneity, and methodological shortcomings. (shrink)

There are a number of important links and similarities between public health and safety. In this extended essay, Gregg D. Caruso defends and expands his public health-quarantine model, which is a non-retributive alternative for addressing criminal behavior that draws on the public health framework and prioritizes prevention and social justice. In developing his account, he explores the relationship between public health and safety, focusing on how social inequalities and systemic injustices affect health outcomes and crime rates, (...) how poverty affects brain development, how offenders often have pre-existing medical conditions (especially mental health issues), how involvement in the criminal justice system itself can lead to or worsen health and cognitive problems, how treatment and rehabilitation methods can best be employed to reduce recidivism and reintegrate offenders back into society, and how a public health approach could be successfully applied within the criminal justice system. Caruso's approach draws on research from the health sciences, social sciences, public policy, law, psychiatry, medical ethics, neuroscience, and philosophy, and he delivers a set of ethically defensible and practically workable proposals for implementing the public health-quarantine model. The essay begins by discussing recent empirical findings in psychology, neuroscience, and the social sciences that provide us with an increased understanding of the social and neurological determinants of health and criminal behavior. It then turns to Caruso's public health-quarantine model and argues that the model provides the most justified, humane, and effective approach for addressing criminal behavior. Caruso concludes by proposing a capability approach to social justice grounded in six key features of human well-being. He argues that we cannot successfully address concerns over public health and safety without simultaneously addressing issues of social justice—including the social determinants of health (SDH) and the social determinants of criminal behavior (SDCB)—and he recommends eight general policy proposals consistent with his model. (shrink)

In a recent paper published in this journal, Giubilini, Douglas and Savulescu argue that we have given insufficient weight to the moral importance of fairness in our account of the best policies for non-medical exemptions to childhood immunization requirements. They advocate for a type of policy they call Contribution, according to which parents must contribute to important public health goods before their children can receive NMEs to immunization requirements. In this response, we argue that Giubilini, Douglas and Savulescu (...) give insufficient weight to the moral importance parental liberty in ways that count against their preferred type of NMEs policy and threaten public support for mandatory vaccination laws and public health initiatives generally. (shrink)

This paper presents preliminary results of a survey experiment examining the effects of international illegality on public support for proposed public policies. It adds three specific dimensions to the existing literature. First, it tests whether the effects of international illegality differ depending on the international regime whose rules are violated, testing the effects of violations of both human rights and trade regimes. Second, it tests how far the involvement of international courts vary these effects. And third, it examines (...) these questions using parallel studies with UK and US respondents to test the robustness and generalisability of the relations identified. Results confirm that, across both jurisdictions, illegality under either trade or human rights regimes, and with or without the additional involvement of an international court, have a statistically significant negative effect of public support for a policy. They further identify a greater negative effect where an international court has confirmed this illegality, although this result is statistically significant in only one case. They do not identify any statistically significant difference in the support depressing effect of illegality under the trade regime compared to the human rights regime. (shrink)

Public reason liberalism is defined by the idea that laws and policies should be justifiable to each person who is subject to them. But what does it mean for reasons to be public or, in other words, suitable for this process of justification? In response to this question, Kevin Vallier has recently developed the traditional distinction between consensus and convergence public reason into a classification distinguishing three main approaches: shareability, accessibility and intelligibility. The goal of this paper (...) is to defend the accessibility approach by demonstrating its ability to strike an appealing middle course in terms of inclusivity between shareability and intelligibility. We first argue against Vallier that accessibility can exclude religious reasons from public justification. Second, we use scientific reasons as a case study to show that accessibility excludes considerably fewer reasons than shareability. Throughout the paper, we connect our discussion of accessibility to John Rawls’s model of public reason, so as to give substance to the accessibility approach and to further our understanding of Rawls’s influential model. (shrink)

While most discussions of corruption focus on administration, institutions, the law and public policy, little attention in the debate about societal reform is paid to the “internalities” of anti-corruption efforts, specifically to character-formation and issues of personal and corporate integrity. While the word “integrity” is frequently mentioned as the goal to be achieved through institutional reforms, even in criminal prosecutions, the specifically philosophical aspects of character-formation and the development of corporate and individual virtues in a rational and systematic (...) way tend to be neglected. This paper focuses on the “internalities” of anti-corruption work with special emphasis on the pre-requisites that need to be ensured on behalf of the social elites in order for proper individual and collective character- formation to take place throughout the society. The author argues that a systematic pursuit of socially recognised virtues, both those pertaining to society as a whole and those specific to particular professions and social groups, is the most comprehensive and strategically justified way of pursuing anti-corruption policy, while institutional and penal policies can only serve an auxiliary role. The pursuit of institutional and criminal justice policies against corruption in a society that is subject to increasing relativism with regard to values and morality is at best ineffective, and at worst socially destructive. Thus the paper suggests a re-examination of the social discourse on the level of what the author calls “value strategy” and the gradual building of a plan to create and solidify specifically designed features of “corporate character” for key sectors of the society. This approach can serve as the main long-term strategy to improve the public profile of integrity and reinforce morality in both the public and civil sectors. (shrink)

So-called “ugly laws” were mostly municipal statutes in the United States that outlawed the appearance in public of people who were, in the words of one of these laws, “diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object” (Chicago City Code 1881). Although the moniker “ugly laws” was coined to refer collectively to such ordinances only in 1975 (Burgdorf and Burgdorf 1975), it has become the primary way to refer to such (...) laws, which targeted the overlapping categories of the poor, the homeless, vagrants, and those with visible disabilities. Enacted and actively enforced between the American Civil War (1867) and World War I (1918), such laws and their enforcement can tell us much about the very sorts of people who were also, a generation later, subject to explicitly eugenic laws, such as sterilization legislation. And like eugenic laws and policies, such laws continue to affect the lives of people with disabilities to this day (Schweik 2011). (shrink)

I will argue that the natural law theory of morality, when extended into a political theory of justice, results in a picture of political justice much like that of public reason liberalism. However, natural law political theory, I argue, need not entail a natural law theory of morality. While facts about what societies ought to do supervene upon facts about what is good for human beings, there are distinct goods involved and distinct reasons for action. Rather, considerations taken from (...) the common good as guiding public policy results in a two-layer approach to public reasonability, resembling features of both consensus and convergence accounts of public reason. Consequently, the differences between natural law and classical public reason liberalism are significant but are not as significant as might have otherwise appeared. In fact, natural law political theory might be a more consistent development of the idea of a public reason than those of classical liberalism. (shrink)

The separation of powers principle deeply heritaged in the US constitutionalism affected and continues to influence the law and public policy in the nation. The tripartite scheme of government was quarreled over the history how we have to perceive any best adequate interaction among the Congress, Executive and Judiciary. The Constitution itself merely quibbles on this point, and the Supreme Court justices, in some cases, would not be done as a clear cut for the scope of constitutional power (...) conferred on each branch. As the stare decisis is a rule in the common law countries, it is less prospective to anticipate that a quantum leap can be made for the new paradigm of constitutional government in the US. In this challenge, the paper deals with the sensitive area of three powers involving the issue of presidential privilege and immunity, justiceability and standing, as well as judicial control of public agencies. In the course of discussion, several landmark cases were illustrated to make a point for the angulated controversies, typically involving the pressing pubic issues and officers of absolute or qualified immunity. Given the diverse structure of government, the US model had been followed by many new born republics in 20th centuries. The author would wish that the paper provides a comparative lesson for the circle of those countries. (shrink)

Modern Monetary Theory and the Universal Law of Balance in Nature -/- Introduction -/- Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) challenges traditional economic thinking by proposing that sovereign governments with their own currency are not financially constrained like households. Instead, they can issue money to finance public spending as long as they manage inflation and resource allocation effectively. When viewed through the lens of my universal formula, which is based on the universal law of balance in nature, MMT emerges as a (...) valid approach to economic management. However, to fully align with natural balance, it must incorporate productivity (GDP), GDP per capita, the Gini coefficient, and population regulation to ensure a stable and just society. -/- The law of Karma in Economic Systems -/- The law of karma, or cause and effect, applies to all systems, whether natural or human-made. For any system to function properly, it must be free of defects or errors. In the economic context, this means that government policies must ensure that money creation and resource distribution do not lead to instability or inequality. -/- MMT recognizes that government spending can boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by increasing demand for goods and services. However, if money creation exceeds productive capacity, inflation occurs, disrupting economic balance. Conversely, if spending is too low, unemployment and stagnation result. This delicate balance follows the same principle as a well-functioning system—any defect, such as misallocation of resources or failure to regulate money flow, leads to dysfunction. -/- Using MMT to Increase GDP Without Causing Inflation -/- One of the main criticisms of MMT is the risk of inflation. However, a government can increase GDP annually without triggering inflation if it directs money creation toward productive sectors that expand the economy’s capacity. This aligns with the universal law of balance—spending must be proportional to the system’s ability to absorb it. -/- To achieve this, the government must focus on: -/- 1. Investing in Infrastructure and Public Goods -/- Building roads, bridges, and energy grids increases economic efficiency and reduces business costs. -/- Improved public transportation lowers logistics costs and improves workforce mobility. -/- Infrastructure spending has a high multiplier effect, meaning that every dollar spent generates more economic activity. -/- 2. Funding Research, Development, and Innovation -/- Investing in new technologies and industries increases long-term productivity, ensuring that new money corresponds to real economic growth. -/- Government-funded innovation, such as AI, renewable energy, and biotechnology, leads to new industries and job creation, expanding GDP without inflationary pressure. -/- 3. Expanding Education and Workforce Training -/- Government-funded education and vocational training programs enhance labor productivity, ensuring that the workforce can meet the demands of evolving industries. -/- A highly skilled workforce increases GDP by producing higher-value goods and services, preventing inflation by raising overall economic efficiency. -/- 4. Supporting Strategic Industrial Growth -/- Providing targeted investment and subsidies to high-potential industries ensures that economic expansion is driven by productive capacity rather than speculation. -/- Countries like South Korea and China have used government spending to develop manufacturing and technology sectors, increasing GDP without inflation. -/- 5. Encouraging Sustainable Energy and Agriculture -/- Investment in renewable energy reduces long-term reliance on fossil fuels, lowering production costs and ensuring energy security. -/- Supporting modern agricultural practices increases food supply, preventing price spikes that contribute to inflation. -/- By focusing government spending on productivity-enhancing sectors, MMT can be applied to grow GDP while avoiding excess money supply beyond the economy’s capacity, ensuring economic balance. -/- Balancing GDP and GDP per Capita -/- While GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced in an economy, it does not reflect the distribution of wealth and individual well-being. A country can have a high GDP but still experience widespread poverty if wealth is concentrated among a few. -/- To maintain balance, economic policies must focus on GDP per capita, which measures average economic output per person. If GDP grows but the population increases at an unsustainable rate, per capita wealth declines, leading to economic stress. This aligns with my universal formula, which emphasizes that decision-making must adhere to natural balance. A nation must regulate population growth to ensure that resources, jobs, and social services are adequate for all citizens. -/- Feedback Mechanisms in Economic Policy -/- The economy, like all natural systems, operates through feedback mechanisms. MMT recognizes that government spending fuels growth, but excessive money creation without corresponding productivity leads to inflation. This is where taxation and investment in productivity serve as balancing tools. -/- If inflation rises, taxes can be increased to reduce excess money in circulation. -/- If unemployment is high, the government can spend more on job programs and infrastructure to boost productivity. -/- If wealth concentration worsens, progressive taxation can redistribute income, preventing social instability. -/- The Gini Coefficient and Economic Justice -/- The Gini coefficient measures income inequality within a society. A higher value indicates greater inequality, which can lead to social unrest and economic imbalance. If wealth is concentrated among a small elite while the majority struggle, the economy becomes unstable, much like a defective system that cannot function efficiently. -/- MMT provides tools to reduce inequality by funding public services, education, and healthcare without relying on traditional tax revenues. However, this spending must be directed toward increasing productivity and ensuring fair wealth distribution to avoid imbalances. A well-functioning system should aim for a moderate Gini coefficient, where economic opportunities are accessible to all. -/- Population Regulation to Maintain Balance -/- A key factor in economic stability is population regulation. If a country’s population grows too rapidly, GDP per capita declines, straining resources, infrastructure, and public services. Conversely, a shrinking population can lead to labor shortages and economic contraction. -/- To maintain balance, governments must implement policies that ensure population growth aligns with economic capacity. These include: -/- Education and family planning programs to encourage sustainable growth. -/- Investment in automation and AI to offset potential labor shortages in aging populations. -/- Sustainable immigration policies to balance workforce needs. -/- Conclusion -/- Modern Monetary Theory, when properly applied, aligns with the universal law of balance in nature by ensuring that economic systems function without defects. However, for MMT to work effectively, it must integrate GDP growth, GDP per capita, income distribution (Gini coefficient), and population regulation to maintain stability. -/- By directing money creation toward productive investments, such as infrastructure, education, innovation, and sustainable industries, governments can increase GDP annually without triggering inflation. This approach ensures that money supply matches real economic output, preventing the imbalance that leads to economic crises. -/- Incorporating these principles into policy-making ensures that economic decisions are guided by natural laws, leading to a more stable, just, and prosperous society. -/- . (shrink)

In this article, responding to assertions that the principle of double effect has no place in legal analysis, I explore the overlap between double effect and negligence analysis. In both, questions of culpability arise in situations where a person acts with no intent to cause harm but where reasonable foreseeability of unintended harm exists. Under both analyses, the determination of whether such conduct is permissible involves a reasonability test that balances that foreseeable harm against the good intended by the actor's (...) conduct. In both, absent a finding that the foreseeable harm is unreasonable in light of that intended good, no liability will be imposed upon the actor. Even conceding, however, such general similarity between double effect and negligence analysis - disagreement over the proper interpretation of the reasonability criterion at play in negligence poses an additional challenge for the attempt to correlate negligence with double effect. Economic efficiency interpretations of negligence, for example, purportedly based on the Learned Hand Formula and the RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF THE LAW OF TORTS, propose that culpability depends upon a utilitarian balancing of good effects of conduct (utility) versus its harmful foreseeable consequences (magnitude of risk of injury). Based on such an interpretation of negligence, however, contrasts between actors' states of mind, and normative differences between kinds of goods and harms, ultimately fade into the background and become irrelevant as essential conditions for properly assessing liability. This article elaborates and defends the view that double effect analysis lies at the heart of negligence theory. Part I elucidates in more detail the principle of double effect and describes its prima facie operation in negligence analysis. Part II considers and rejects the economic efficiency interpretation that has been offered as a theory of negligence, overcoming the challenge that such an interpretation presents for the effort to locate double effect analysis in the law. Part III illustrates and confirms the overlap between double effect and negligence by consideration of a series of case applications. The Article proposes that the weighing of conflicting values in double effect analysis and negligence is not achieved - as proposed by law and economics theory with respect to negligence - by imposing a consequentialist-utilitarian reduction of all value to a single concept of good and eliminating the relevance of traditional state of mind distinctions between intention and foreseeability. Instead, each mode of analysis recognizes that distinct culpability determinations flow naturally and plausibly from an appreciation of the traditional legal distinctions made between various types of goods and harms, and upon whether such goods and harms come about as result of an actor's intention or mere foreseeability. Keywords: Double effect, negligence, intention, foreseeability, choice, law and economics, utilitarianism, consequentialism, weighing of values. (shrink)

The thinking of those with the power to formulate and implement public policy is now almost totally dominated by the so-called science of economics. While efforts have been made to supplement or modify economics to make it less brutal or less environmentally blind, here it is suggested that economics is so fundamentally flawed and that it so completely dominates the culture of late modern capitalism (or postmodernity) that a new master human science is required to displace it and (...) provide an alternative coordinating framework for research and for defining reality. This could then provide an alternative basis for formulating public policy. It is argued that if human ecology is to fill this role, it will must be developed on consistently anti-reductionist foundations, and that such a social science would totally reorient public policy from a domain for power elites to a domain for genuinely democratic societies to define and control their destinies. -/- . (shrink)

The main message of Neuroethics is that neuroscience forces us to reconceptualize human agency as marvelously diverse and flexible. Free will can arise from unconscious brain processes. Individuals with mental disorders, including addiction and psychopathy, exhibit more agency than is often recognized. Brain interventions should be embraced with cautious optimism. Our moral intuitions, which arise from entangled reason and emotion, can generally be trusted. Nevertheless, we can and should safely enhance our brain chemistry, partly because motivated reasoning crops up in (...) everyday life and in the practice of neuroscience itself. Despite serious limitations, brain science can be useful in the courtroom and marketplace. Recognizing all this nuance leaves little room for anxious alarmism or overhype and urges an emphasis on neurodiversity. The result is a highly opinionated tour of neuroethics as an exciting field full of implications for philosophy, science, medicine, law, and public policy. (shrink)

My paper addresses a topic--the implications of Rawls's justice as fairness for affirmative action--that has received remarkably little attention from Rawls's major interpreters. The only extended treatments of it that are in print are over a quarter-century old, and they bear scarcely any relationship to Rawls's own nonideal theorizing. Following Christine Korsgaard's lead, I work through the implications of Rawls's nonideal theory and show what it entails for affirmative action: viz. that under nonideal conditions, aggressive forms of formal equality of (...) opportunity (e.g., sensitivity training, outreach efforts, external monitoring and enforcement) and compensating support (e.g., special fellowship programs, childcare facilities, mentoring, co-op opportunities, etc.) can be justified, but that "hard" and even "soft" quotas are difficult to defend under any conditions. I conclude the paper by exploring the implications of these surprising results for contemporary liberalism more broadly and for constitutional law and public policy. (shrink)

The precautionary principle in public decision making concerns situations where following an assessment of the available scientific information, there are reasonable grounds for concern for the possibility of adverse effects on the environment or human health, but scientific uncertainty persists. In such cases provisional risk management measures may be adopted, without having to wait until the reality and seriousness of those adverse effects become fully apparent. This is the definition of the precautionary principle as operationalized under EU law. The (...) precautionary principle is a deliberative principle. Its application involves deliberation on a range of normative dimensions which need to be taken into account while making the principle operational in the public policy context. Under EU law, any risk management measures to be adopted while implementing the precautionary principle, have to be proportionate to ensure the chosen high level of protection in the European Community. This articlewill illustrate the established practice concerning the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment and how the principle is implemented under hard law. The article also provides an outlook on what this may imply for the relative new case of nanotechnology and the use of precautionary principle within the context of soft law (use of codes of conduct). (shrink)

Immigrant legalization policies pose an ethical dilemma between justice and the rule of law. On the one hand, liberal democracies aspire to the principles of individual liberty and equality. Building on liberal ideals of justice, compelling arguments have been made for granting legal status and a path to citizenship to unauthorized migrants by virtue of the social ties they have developed, their contributions to the host society, and their vulnerability to exploitation. On the other hand, legalization poses a challenge to (...) another important value, the rule of law, which requires government to operate within a framework of law in accordance with well-established public norms. Immigrant legalization programmes are said to undermine the rule of law because they reward lawbreaking, allow queue-jumping, and incentivize further unauthorized migration. This article clarifies each horn of the dilemma, focusing on rule of law arguments. We offer a critical reappraisal of immigrant legalization policies by reflecting on the normative meaning of the rule of law and by examining empirical evidence assessing the effects of legalization. Our central contention is that legalization policies can enhance the rule of law. We offer five rule of law arguments in support of legalization, which help to mitigate the dilemma between justice and the rule of law. We conclude by discussing some policy implications of our analysis. (shrink)

Is public policy ethics possible and, if so, is it desirable? This twofold question can – and sometimes does — elicit a smile or a frown. The smile implies that ethical theorizing rests on a naïve idea of policy-making; the frown implies that there is something tasteless or incongruous in expecting philosophy to engage with problems of policy and with the political bargaining and compromise that policy-making often involves. These reactions – familiar to many working (...) in this academic discipline – point to the ways in which ethics and public policy have been taken to be separate areas of practical concern and theoretical inquiry. (shrink)

Jus post Bellum is, like Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello, a part of just war theory. Jus post Bellum is distinguished from the other parts of just war theory by being primarily concerned with the principles necessary for securing a just and lasting peace after the end of a war. Traditionally, jus post bellum has focused primarily on three goals: [1] compensating those who have been the victims of unjust aggression, while respecting the rights of the aggressors, [2] (...) punishing and rehabilitating those guilty of war crimes and other violations of the principles of Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello and [3] developing measures that will prevent future war and violence (Orend 2000 and May 2012). In this chapter, I outline an account of political forgiveness and explain the role that political forgiveness can have in promoting the goals of jus post bellum. My conception of political forgiveness requires some unpacking. Let me begin with individual forgiveness, which I understand along familiar Butlerian lines as the renunciation of resentment (Butler, Sermon IX in McNaughton 2017: 75-83), though with a bit of a twist. More exactly, ● An individual, I, forgives J for doing F if and only if I renounces all her own warrant for resenting J for doing F. Resentment is a judgment-sensitive attitude, and, therefore, it tends to track judgments concerning its warrant (Scanlon 1998: 20 and Smith 2015). In cases of perfect forgiveness, I’s renunciation causes her to cease feeling resentment toward J for doing F, though, of course, less perfect cases are possible. I reject the idea that there is a sharp discontinuity between individual and political forgiveness, a position argued for by, e.g., Peter Digeser (1998 and 2001). By contrast, I understand political forgiveness as the renunciation of resentment by the relevant political body in question. With greater precision, ● A sovereign political body, P, forgives J for doing F if and only if P renounces all warrant that its citizens have for resenting, as part of their public lives, J for doing F. A little more explanation is in order. Sovereign political bodies, such as national governments, claim degrees of control over the lives of their citizens, in both their public and their private aspects, though the claims with respect to the former tend to be considerably more expansive than the claims with respect to the latter. I assume here that, at least in the case of legitimate governments, these claims of control are often valid. Such governments may reasonably renounce certain grounds for motivating action in the public sphere. For example, governments may renounce all warrant that its citizens have, as part of their public lives, for hating members of marginalized groups. In practice, this means that, while citizens might continue to act in their private lives out of hatred for members of these groups, their appeal to this hatred is seen by the state as irrelevant to matters of law and public policy as well as being wholly out-of-place in public discourse. Political forgiveness toward J for doing F, as I understand it, involves an analogous rejection of resentment, on the part of citizens in their public lives, toward J for doing F. I turn now to the matter of how political forgiveness supports securing a just and lasting peace between former belligerents. With respect to the first goal of jus post bellum, political forgiveness helps to balance compensation for victims and respect for the rights of defeated aggressors by countering the all-too-human tendency to overvalue harms done to oneself and to members of one’s group. As regards the second goal, political forgiveness plays a similar role but also provides a model for rehabilitation by exemplifying among the victorious the behavior to be emulated by the vanquished. Finally, political forgiveness promotes the third goal of jus post bellum by providing a space for nations to meet as moral equals rather than allowing one nation to have the moral high ground over the other. None of this, of course, means that political forgiveness should be unearned or that it should be confused with condonation (Kolnai 1973 and Pettigrove 2004). However, the question of what is required to put oneself in a position to be forgiven as part of jus post bellum is a matter that goes beyond the scope of this chapter. (shrink)

The value of health states is often understood to depend on their impact on the goodness of people's lives. As such, prominent health states metrics are grounded in particular conceptions of wellbeing – e.g. hedonism or preference satisfaction. In this paper, I consider how liberals committed to the public justification requirement – the requirement that public officials choose laws and policies that are justifiable to their citizens – should evaluate health states. Since the public justification requirement prohibits (...) public officials from appealing to controversial conceptions of the good life, liberals committed to this principle face a significant puzzle. (shrink)

A Balanced Economic Model: The Feedback Loop Between Public and Private Sectors with MMT as a Stabilizing Mechanism -/- Introduction -/- Modern capitalism thrives on competition, profit motives, and consumer demand. However, the system is flawed because it allows extreme wealth inequality, market instability, and frequent economic crashes. Advertising, as an essential part of capitalism, manipulates consumer behavior to sustain profits. While this fuels economic growth, it also distorts the real needs of society. -/- A better alternative Is a (...) hybrid economic model where government-created jobs, social safety nets, and free public services coexist with a profit-driven private sector. The key to making this work is a feedback loop mechanism that keeps the two sectors balanced, ensuring economic stability while preventing extreme inequality and unnecessary market collapses. This essay explores how Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) can support this feedback loop economy to create a self-regulating system where both public and private sectors benefit from each other. -/- I. The Feedback Loop Between Private Companies and Government Economic Policies -/- A feedback loop mechanism is a self-regulating system where different components interact, adjust, and respond to maintain balance. In the economy, the public sector (government jobs, social safety nets, and public services) and the private sector (businesses, investments, and free markets) create a mutual dependency: -/- 1. Government Spending Creates Consumer Demand → Private Sector Growth -/- Government creates jobs with good salaries in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and technology. -/- This injects money into the economy, giving people the purchasing power to buy goods and services from private companies. -/- As demand increases, businesses grow, hire more workers, and expand operations. -/- 2. Private Sector Growth → Increases Government Revenue Without High Taxation -/- As private companies generate profits, they pay taxes and reinvest in expansion. -/- Strong consumer demand reduces the need for excessive taxation because economic growth itself funds public programs. -/- Businesses compete not only for profits but also for innovation and efficiency. -/- 3. Social Safety Nets Prevent Market Collapses -/- During recessions, government stabilizes the economy by expanding social programs (unemployment benefits, food assistance, healthcare). -/- This prevents demand from crashing, ensuring that businesses still have customers even in economic downturns. -/- As the economy recovers, government reduces spending, allowing the private sector to take the lead again. -/- This dynamic cycle ensures that economic booms and recessions are smoothed out, preventing extreme market crashes or mass unemployment. -/- II. The Role of MMT in Supporting the Feedback Loop -/- Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) provides the economic foundation for this model by proving that a sovereign government can spend money without being constrained by traditional budget rules. Unlike mainstream economic thinking, which suggests that governments must “balance the budget,” MMT argues that government spending should adjust based on economic conditions. -/- 1. Government-Backed Job Programs as an Economic Stabilizer -/- MMT allows governments to fund public jobs without relying solely on taxation. -/- If private companies cut jobs, the government can expand its workforce to absorb the unemployed. -/- When the economy stabilizes, people move back to higher-paying private jobs, reducing government spending. -/- 2. Preventing Inflation Through Resource Control -/- MMT acknowledges that inflation happens when there’s too much money chasing too few goods. -/- The government can remove excess money through targeted taxation and invest in productivity (e.g., infrastructure, education) to keep supply stable. -/- This prevents excessive inflation while keeping the economy growing. -/- 3. Continuous Money Circulation Without Debt Crises -/- Governments can print money to fund essential services, but they control inflation by investing in real production capacity (e.g., factories, renewable energy, technology). -/- This means public investment directly benefits private businesses, keeping both sectors in sync. -/- This MMT-backed feedback loop ensures that economic downturns do not lead to catastrophic business failures or mass unemployment. -/- III. The Role of Advertising in a Balanced Economic System -/- Advertising, while necessary for businesses, often manipulates consumer behavior in a way that creates artificial demand. In a feedback loop economy, advertising should be regulated to align with real consumer needs rather than exploiting psychological weaknesses. -/- 1. Ethical Advertising Policies -/- Companies should be incentivized to market based on quality and innovation rather than manipulation. -/- False advertising and monopolistic dominance should be regulated to prevent consumer exploitation. -/- 2. Consumer Education Programs -/- Public education should include critical thinking courses to help people make informed purchasing decisions. -/- This reduces the influence of manipulative advertising, ensuring that businesses compete fairly. -/- This ensures that the feedback loop remains healthy, preventing unnecessary overproduction and unsustainable consumer debt. -/- IV. Real-World Examples of a Balanced System -/- Some countries have successfully implemented elements of this feedback loop economic model: -/- Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland) -/- Have free healthcare, education, and social safety nets while maintaining a competitive private sector. -/- Use progressive taxation to prevent extreme inequality, ensuring that economic growth benefits everyone. -/- Germany -/- Uses government-backed vocational training programs to ensure a highly skilled workforce. -/- Strong public-private partnerships help both sectors support each other dynamically. -/- Japan -/- Government plays a major role in funding research, infrastructure, and innovation, allowing private businesses to thrive. -/- Uses state-owned enterprises strategically while ensuring a competitive private market. -/- These examples prove that a properly managed hybrid model is more resilient, fair, and stable than extreme capitalism or extreme socialism. -/- V. Conclusion: A Self-Regulating Economy for the Future -/- A feedback loop economic system provides the best of both worlds: ✔ Government ensures economic stability through public job creation and social safety nets. ✔ Private companies drive innovation and competitiveness with strong consumer demand. ✔ MMT allows government spending to adjust dynamically without unnecessary austerity measures. ✔ Advertising is reformed to encourage ethical business practices and informed consumer choices. ✔ Inflation is controlled through taxation, investment, and resource management. -/- By integrating these feedback loop mechanisms, we can create a self-regulating economic model where both public and private sectors reinforce each other, ensuring long-term stability, prosperity, and economic fairness. -/- Policy Framework for a Balanced Economic System: Global Best Practices -/- To fully integrate the feedback loop mechanism between the public and private sectors, specific policies must be implemented to ensure economic stability, innovation, and fairness. Below are real-world policy examples that demonstrate how different countries successfully manage their economies using a mix of government intervention and free market principles. -/- I. Public Job Creation as an Economic Stabilizer -/- One of the biggest issues in capitalism is economic recessions leading to mass layoffs, which then reduce consumer spending, creating a vicious cycle of economic decline. The solution is public sector job programs that absorb unemployed workers during downturns and allow them to transition back to private jobs when the economy improves. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ United States (New Deal Programs – 1930s) -/- During the Great Depression, the U.S. government created millions of jobs in construction, public works, and conservation projects. -/- These projects boosted infrastructure while providing employment, helping to revive the economy. -/- ✔ Argentina’s Jefes de Hogar Program (2002-2006) -/- Aimed at mitigating mass unemployment during Argentina’s economic crisis. -/- The government hired unemployed citizens to work in community service, infrastructure, and public health projects. -/- Created social stability and demand for private goods, helping Argentina recover. -/- ✔ Germany’s Kurzarbeit Program (Ongoing) -/- In times of economic slowdown, the German government pays companies to keep workers employed at reduced hours rather than laying them off. -/- This prevents mass unemployment, ensuring that workers still have income and spending power. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement automatic public employment programs during recessions to keep demand stable and prevent economic crashes. -/- II. Social Safety Nets to Support Consumer Demand -/- A strong social safety net ensures that consumers have purchasing power even in economic downturns, keeping the private sector stable. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ Nordic Model (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) -/- Provides free healthcare, education, and unemployment benefits, preventing extreme poverty. -/- Funded through progressive taxation, ensuring that the wealthy contribute fairly to society. -/- This creates a stable consumer base for private companies, benefiting the entire economy. -/- ✔ Universal Basic Income (UBI) Experiments (Finland, Canada, Kenya) -/- Finland tested a UBI program where unemployed citizens received a monthly payment regardless of employment status. -/- Results showed that recipients were more likely to start businesses and find better jobs, proving that social safety nets do not reduce work incentives. -/- ✔ Singapore’s Housing and Retirement System -/- The government helps citizens buy homes with public funds, ensuring stable housing. -/- A mandatory retirement savings system (Central Provident Fund) ensures that people have money after they retire. -/- These policies reduce financial anxiety, allowing people to focus on entrepreneurship and economic growth. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement universal healthcare, free education, and unemployment benefits to ensure that economic downturns do not collapse consumer spending. -/- III. Regulating Advertising to Align with Consumer Needs -/- Unregulated advertising manipulates consumer behavior, creating unnecessary demand and overconsumption, which destabilizes economies. Governments can regulate advertising to ensure ethical business practices. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ European Union (Strict Advertising Laws) -/- The EU bans false advertising, ensuring that companies cannot make misleading claims about their products. -/- Certain junk food and alcohol ads are restricted to protect public health. -/- ✔ France’s Ban on Child-Targeted Advertising -/- Prevents unethical marketing towards children, reducing unnecessary consumerism. -/- ✔ Japan’s Culture of Product Quality Over Hype -/- Japanese companies emphasize product reliability and long-term value, reducing dependence on manipulative advertising. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement ethical advertising regulations to prevent false marketing, predatory ads targeting vulnerable consumers, and excessive consumer debt. -/- IV. Public-Private Partnerships for Innovation and Infrastructure -/- Rather than treating the government and private sector as separate entities, a well-balanced system interconnects them through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to drive innovation. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ Germany’s Mittelstand Model (SME Support System) -/- The German government provides long-term financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the economy. -/- Ensures that private businesses have stable growth without excessive corporate monopolies. -/- ✔ China’s State-Led Economic Model (Strategic Government Investments) -/- The government invests heavily in infrastructure and technology, allowing private businesses to thrive with low-cost logistics and energy. -/- Balances capitalist competition with government support, ensuring stability. -/- ✔ United States (NASA & SpaceX Collaboration) -/- NASA funded SpaceX and other private space companies, leading to rapid innovation in space technology. -/- This proves that government funding can accelerate private sector breakthroughs. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Use government funding to support innovation and long-term infrastructure projects while allowing private businesses to benefit and expand. -/- V. MMT as a Tool for Economic Stability -/- Traditional economic models suggest that governments must “balance their budgets” like households, but this is a flawed concept. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) argues that sovereign nations with their own currency (like the U.S., Japan, and the UK) can create money to fund essential services without relying on debt from private banks. -/- How MMT Works in Practice -/- ✔ Japan’s National Debt Strategy -/- Japan has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world, yet it has no financial crisis because it borrows in its own currency. -/- Instead of austerity, Japan uses public investment to maintain economic stability. -/- ✔ U.S. Stimulus During COVID-19 -/- The U.S. government printed money to send direct payments to citizens, preventing a total economic collapse. -/- Inflation was controlled by adjusting taxation and investment in production capacity. -/- ✔ EU’s Post-COVID Recovery Fund -/- The European Union used public money to stabilize industries and workers, preventing extreme recessions. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Use MMT-based strategies to fund infrastructure, social programs, and innovation, ensuring economic stability without excessive reliance on private banking debt. -/- VI. Conclusion: Creating a Self-Regulating Economy -/- A feedback loop economy that integrates public job creation, private sector competition, social safety nets, and MMT-backed fiscal policies provides a self-regulating system that ensures: -/- ✔ Stable employment and consumer demand even during economic downturns. ✔ Innovation and competition in the private sector without excessive monopolies or market crashes. ✔ Government-funded infrastructure and social programs that benefit both workers and businesses. ✔ Ethical advertising that prevents consumer exploitation and unnecessary debt. ✔ Balanced inflation control through strategic taxation and investment. -/- By combining the best policies from different global models, we can build an economic system that minimizes business bankruptcies, prevents recessions, and maximizes innovation and economic fairness. -/- . (shrink)

The Importance of Urban Planning and Strict Laws on Informal Settlements -/- Introduction -/- Urbanization is a global phenomenon, bringing both opportunities and challenges. Rapid population growth, especially in developing nations, has led to the rise of informal settlements or “squatter areas.” These settlements often lack proper infrastructure, sanitation, and legal recognition, creating social, economic, and environmental issues. Effective urban planning, combined with strict enforcement of land-use laws and inclusive housing policies, is essential to ensuring sustainable and livable cities. This (...) essay explores the importance of urban planning and strict laws against illegal settlements, using successful case studies from Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines, and Ethiopia. -/- The Role of Urban Planning in Sustainable Cities -/- Urban planning is the process of designing and regulating the use of land to ensure the orderly development of cities. Proper urban planning provides essential services such as housing, transportation, sanitation, and green spaces, preventing the formation of illegal settlements. -/- Key Aspects of Effective Urban Planning -/- 1. Zoning Regulations – Defining areas for residential, commercial, and industrial use helps prevent uncontrolled development. -/- 2. Infrastructure Development – Roads, drainage, sewage systems, and utilities must be planned in advance to accommodate future growth. -/- 3. Disaster Risk Management – Cities must prevent settlements in flood-prone or hazardous areas to minimize risks to human life. -/- 4. Affordable Housing Programs – Governments should provide legal, affordable alternatives to illegal settlements. -/- Without proper urban planning, cities face overcrowding, pollution, poor sanitation, and increased crime rates. Case studies from different countries demonstrate the effectiveness of strong urban policies in addressing informal settlements. -/- Case Studies: Successful Urban Planning and Settlement Control -/- 1. Singapore: A Model for Integrated Public Housing -/- Singapore transformed from a city with severe housing shortages in the 1960s into one of the most well-planned urban environments in the world. The government’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) played a crucial role in developing affordable, high-quality public housing with integrated amenities such as schools, parks, and public transportation. -/- Key Strategies: ✔ Strict zoning laws prevented unregulated settlements. ✔ Homeownership was promoted through subsidized housing loans. ✔ Government-planned townships provided complete services. -/- Results: ✔ Over 80% of Singaporeans now live in well-planned public housing. ✔ Illegal settlements have been completely eliminated. -/- Singapore’s success demonstrates how strict land-use policies combined with affordable housing programs can prevent informal settlements. -/- 2. Brazil: Upgrading Informal Settlements Instead of Evictions -/- Rio de Janeiro faced a severe problem with favelas—informal settlements that grew due to rapid urban migration. Instead of mass evictions, the government launched the Favela-Bairro program (1994-2008), improving living conditions rather than displacing people. -/- Key Strategies: ✔ Infrastructure improvements (roads, sanitation, electricity). ✔ Community engagement ensured residents’ needs were met. ✔ Legal property rights were granted to residents. -/- Results: ✔ Over 250,000 residents benefited from improved housing conditions. ✔ Crime and poverty rates declined as favelas were integrated into the formal city. -/- Brazil’s approach shows that slum upgrading can be a viable alternative to forced eviction, improving both human welfare and urban order. -/- 3. South Korea: Urban Renewal in Seoul (Cheonggyecheon Project) -/- Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon River was once covered by illegal settlements and highways. The government removed the informal settlements, revitalizing the area into a public green space. -/- Key Strategies: ✔ Slum clearance and restoration of natural spaces. ✔ Improved public transport (bus rapid transit) reduced congestion. ✔ Business relocation incentives prevented economic disruption. -/- Results: ✔ 35% reduction in air pollution, making Seoul more livable. ✔ Increased property values and economic growth. -/- This case highlights how urban renewal projects can enhance sustainability, public health, and economic opportunities while addressing informal settlements. -/- 4. The Philippines: Housing and Resettlement Programs -/- Metro Manila faces a long-standing issue of informal settlers occupying flood-prone and government-owned areas. The Philippine government introduced various strategies, including in-city relocation, socialized housing, and land clearing operations. -/- Key Strategies: ✔ Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) Program: Encouraged migration from overcrowded cities with financial aid. ✔ Vertical housing solutions: High-rise social housing projects maximized limited land. ✔ Land clearing operations: Removed settlements from hazardous areas. -/- Results: ✔ Some success in decongesting Metro Manila, but rapid urban migration remains a challenge. ✔ Affordable housing remains a priority for sustainable urban development. -/- The Philippines’ experience shows that a combination of enforcement and social programs is necessary to manage informal settlements effectively. -/- 5. Ethiopia: Large-Scale Public Housing (Addis Ababa’s Condominium Program) -/- Ethiopia faced a housing crisis, with 70% of Addis Ababa’s population living in informal settlements. The government launched a large-scale condominium housing program to address the issue. -/- Key Strategies: ✔ Government-built high-rise condominiums replaced slums. ✔ Low-interest loans made homeownership possible for low-income families. ✔ Priority was given to families displaced by urban renewal projects. -/- Results: ✔ Significant reduction in slums as many moved into formal housing. ✔ Homeownership increased, improving living conditions. -/- Ethiopia’s approach highlights how government-led mass housing projects can transform urban development. -/- Lessons from Successful Urban Planning -/- 1. Strict Land-Use Laws Prevent Slums from Forming ✔ Clearly defining residential, commercial, and public spaces prevents illegal occupation. -/- 2. Affordable Housing is Essential ✔ Governments must provide low-cost housing as a legal alternative to informal settlements. -/- 3. Upgrading Slums Can Be More Effective Than Evictions ✔ Programs like Favela-Bairro (Brazil) and Ethiopia’s condominium projects show that improving existing settlements works better than forced displacement. -/- 4. Technology Can Help Monitor and Prevent Illegal Settlements ✔ GIS mapping and AI tracking can detect unauthorized land occupation. ✔ E-governance systems can simplify property registration and land-use approvals. -/- 5. Community Engagement is Critical ✔ Urban planning must involve local residents to ensure sustainability and social acceptance. -/- 6. Economic and Livelihood Programs Reduce Informal Settlements ✔ Job creation, microfinance, and small business support help low-income families transition into formal housing. -/- Conclusion -/- Urban planning and strict laws against informal settlements are crucial for creating sustainable, safe, and prosperous cities. Case studies from Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines, and Ethiopia demonstrate that a balanced approach—combining strict enforcement, affordable housing, and community-driven solutions—leads to long-term success. Governments worldwide must prioritize sustainable housing, infrastructure development, and urban regulations to ensure that growing populations are accommodated in a way that promotes both human dignity and urban order. -/- By learning from successful models and implementing proactive urban policies, cities can prevent slums, improve living conditions, and build a more sustainable future for all. -/- . (shrink)

The debate on the argumentative turn in Public Policy and Administration (PPA), as reflective of the influence of politico-legal theory on the discipline, is reviewed with a thorough and indepth engagement with the Argumentation Theory (AT) literature. The focus in this article is in fact of a methodological nature since we argue that critical scholars - who have contributed to the general and specialized (i.e. political discourse analysis and critical contextualism) literature of AT as well as politico-legal theory (...) - pave the way to a novel methodology which will be exemplified through the analysis of the transparency concept. (shrink)

In this article, I discuss prospects for democracy in the Middle East. I argue, first, that some democratic experiments—for instance, Egypt under Mohammed Morsi—are not in keeping with etymological and historical meanings of democracy; and second, that efforts to promote democracy, especially as exemplified in U.N. documents emphasizing universal rights grounded in Western traditions, are possibly totalitarian and also colonialist and hence counter to democratic ideals insofar as they impart one set of values as the only morally acceptable ones. A (...) respectful dialogue in which people from both regions strive to understand conditions giving rise to certain social practices would be more productive than morally superior attitudes, and help all to see areas where their respective cultures could be improved. I conclude by discussing concepts of democratic and pragmatic faith articulated by John Dewey and William James, arguing that democracy will continue to flounder in the Middle East so long as the basic trust implied in these concepts is lacking; and how Westerners might consider this a cautionary tale regarding social attitudes and public policies contrary to democratic life in their own countries. (shrink)

This paper addresses five questions: First, what is trajectory of Western liberal ethics and politics in defining life, rights and citizenship? Second, how will neuro-remediation and other technologies change the definition of death for the brain injured and the cryonically suspended? Third, will people always have to be dead to be cryonically suspended? Fourth, how will changing technologies and definitions of identity affect the status of people revived from brain injury and cryonic suspension? I propose that Western liberal thought is (...) working towards a natural end, a “telos.” In response to a variety of biotechnologies, law and public opinion in liberal democracies will be forced to make explicit that the rights of a living thing are determined by its level of consciousness. I discuss the way that technology will force three clarifications about the value of consciousness, at the beginning, the end and boundaries of human life. Sentience and personhood will become the basis of moral concern, regardless of its media. Just as human rights have become independent of race, gender and property, rights will become independent of being a breathing human being. But even as we make this transition, the cryonically preserved are still likely to be considered dead for pragmatic reasons, albeit with gradually increasing rights as technology makes their reanimation increasingly probable. I suggest that it could be acceptable to cryonicists that the frozen continue to be defined as dead if assisted suicide can be legalized. Under a liberal assisted suicide policy cryonicists might be allowed to carry out suspension before a declaration of death, preserving the maximum amount of neural information. The gradual redefinition of life and personal identity in terms of psychological continuity will also have consequences for the legal status of the reanimated. If, due to information loss, the reanimated do not meet a threshold of psychological continuity, they may be considered new persons. Cryonicists may therefore wish to specify ahead of time whether they are still interested in being reanimated if pre-animation assessment suggests that the result will not meet the necessary threshold of continuity. Finally, I touch on the way that neural technology will fundamentally problematize the separate, autonomous self on which liberal democratic values are based, leading to a legal and political Singularity. It is this looming neural Singularity that makes the proposed liberal democratic telos a final stage in humanistic thought, before it is superceded by something radically different. (shrink)

Many democratic theorists hold that when a decision is collectively made in the right kind of way, in accordance with the right procedure, it is permissible to enforce it. They deny that there are further requirements on the type of reasons that can permissibly be used to justify laws and policies. In this paper, I argue that democratic theorists are mistaken about this. So-called public reason requirements follow from commitments that most of them already hold. Drawing on the democratic (...) ideal of civic equality, I show that it can successfully explain why political decision-making must have the right sort of procedure-independent justification. However, contra standard accounts of public reason, I argue that laws and policies need to be justified with convergence accessible, not shared, reasons. Public reasons are those that are accessible in light of evaluative standards shared by all, or in light of every citizen’s private evaluative standards. Since this will make the set of public reasons wider, it makes the theory more palatable to sceptics while retaining the framework’s justificatory potential. (shrink)

This chapter discusses the topics of trust and expertise from the perspective of political epistemology. In particular, it addresses four main questions: (§1) How should we characterise experts and their expertise? (§2) How can non-experts recognize a reliable expert? (§3) What does it take for non-experts to trust experts? (§4) What problems impede trust in experts?

In Public Reason Confucianism, Kim Sungmoon presents a perfectionist theory that is based on a partially comprehensive Confucian doctrine but is non-sectarian, since the doctrine is widely shared in East Asian societies. Despite its attractiveness, I argue that this project, unfortunately, fails because it is still vulnerable to the sectarian critique. The blurred distinction between partially and fully comprehensive doctrines will create a loophole problem. Sectarian laws and policies may gain legitimacy that they do not deserve. I further defend (...) political Confucianism, which is regarded by Kim as an inadequately intelligible form of Confucianism. Kim assumes a too narrow understanding of intelligibility. Although political Confucianism may not be politically intelligible, it is civically intelligible, i.e. it is culturally intelligibly different from other political theories in terms of its implications in citizens’ actions in civil society. In light of civic intelligibility, the distinctiveness of political Confucianism should not be underestimated. (shrink)

The declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, led to unprecedented events. All regions of the world participated in implementing preventive health measures such as physical distancing, travel restrictions, self-isolation, quarantines, and facility closures. The pandemic started global disruption of socio-economic systems, covering the postponement or cancellation of public events, supply shortages, schools and universities’ closure, evacuation of foreign citizens, a rise in unemployment and inflation, misinformation, the anti-vaccine movement, and incidents of (...) discrimination toward people affected by or suspected of having coronavirus disease. Attempts have been made to protect the oldest age group at risk, but in many cases, this has led to over-restriction and age discrimination. The rationale for working on the Research Topic "Socio-economic systems in the post-pandemic world: Design thinking, strategic planning, management, and public policy" was the need to start reflecting on resilience and lessons learned from this public health event that revealed the global unpreparedness in critical areas. Also, the pandemic triggered both top-down and bottom-up responses that needed more in-depth analyzes. This Research Topic covers interdisciplinary contributions addressing new thinking, challenges, and transformations required for post-pandemic global, national, regional, and local realities. The presented Research Topic combines studies focused on recognizing the actions and interventions leading to the recovery of socio-economic systems during the tail end and after the pandemic. The studies delivered recommendations regarding, among others, the care of vulnerable, planning socio-economic restart, and imagining the "new normal.". (shrink)

The aim of this research is to examine the public policy influences on academic investigations that contain a substantial convergence among human resource management–industrial relations and corporate social responsibility–stakeholder approach by means of using bibliometric and content analyses of relevant publications in the Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Totally, 160 publications were subject to bibliometric, cluster, and summative content analyses. In this context, this study claims that public policy in the EU influences academic investigations and scholars. The (...) investigation draws attention to the importance of active participation of different public institutions and key stakeholders (e.g., trade unions, works councils, academic associations) that prepare a basis for collaboration, solidarity, and communication for strengthening EU social model, social dialogue, collective bargaining, and the protection of social rights. The research findings illuminate the fact that European public policies have significant effects on shaping and encouraging investigations that are considered within the scope of IR–HRM and CSR–SA. One of the most crucial recommendations of this study is that the investigations which are out of this framework can be considered quite idealistic. Therefore, researchers may attempt to publish more scientific investigations in frame of IR–HRM and CSR–SA to enhance the comprehensiveness and depth of these two clusters. (shrink)

Drawing on behavioral economics, nudges (policy interventions based on choice architecture) have the capacity to strategically shape policymaking, subtly guiding individual behavior by adjusting their decision environment. Applied to enhance vaccinations, boost retirement savings, or promote healthy habits, these interventions align with consensus-defined well-being. As governments adopt nudges, scholars have explored their role in fostering virtues. This paper argues that nudges have the potential to efficiently contribute to virtuous development by instilling and sustaining habits, respecting individual choice, and ensuring (...) deliberation. It introduces the concept of virtue nudges, emphasizing the alignment of habits with virtues for targeted behavioral change and the formation of morally virtuous habits. (shrink)

This brief commentary reappraises the issue of emigration of physicians from developing countries to developed countries. A methodological framework is developed for assessing the impact of physician emigration on population health outcomes. The evidence from macro and micro studies suggest that developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa would benefit from regulating physician emigration because the loss of physicians can lower quality of healthcare services and lead to worse health outcomes. Further discussion is contained in an e-letter: http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2013/05/30/medethics-2013-101409/reply.

What is the ethical basis for democracy? What reasons do we have to go along with democratic decisions even when we disagree with them? When can we justly ignore democratic decisions? These three questions are intimately connected: understanding what is ultimately important about democracy helps us to understand the authority of democratic decisions over our personal views, and the limits of such authority. Thomas Christiano’s ambitious new book, The Constitution of Equality, aims to provide such an understanding through a discussion (...) of all three questions. Briefly put, in Christiano’s view, public equality is the moral foundation of both democracy and liberal rights, and it serves to explain the authority of democracy as well as its limits. The book aims first of all to ground the principle of public equality in a number of principles related to the nature of personhood, dignity, well-being and formal considerations of justice, on the one hand, and in the need for publicity for social justice, on the other (Chaps. 1 and 2). The book then aims to show how both democracy and basic liberal rights are grounded in the principle of public equality, which tells us that in the establishment of law and policy we must treat persons as equals in ways that they can see are treating them as equals (Chaps. 3 and 4). The account clarifies the nature and roles of adversarial politics and public deliberation in political life (Chap. 5). Finally, the book argues that democratic decisions have authority over personal views and that violations of democratic and liberal rights are beyond the legitimate authority of democracy, and that the creation of persistent minorities in a democratic society, and the failure to ensure a basic minimum for all persons weaken the legitimate authority of democracy (Chaps. 6 and 7). I shall begin by addressing Christiano’s view on the basis of equality, and then shall focus mainly on the central argument for public equality, democracy and its.. (shrink)

This paper is a survey of the positive and negative aspects of cannabis use from the point of view of the individual on one hand and from the point of view of the society on the other hand. Health, social, and political motives are all discussed, and the best method of harm reduction is analysed. The upshot is that zero tolerance policy is obsolete, and that most individuals would be better off using cannabis rather than other drugs.

The lexical priority of fair equality of opportunity in John Rawls’s justice as fairness, which has been sharply criticized by Larry Alexander and Richard Arneson among others, is left almost entirely undefended in Rawls’s works. I argue here that this priority rule can be successfully defended against its critics despite Rawls’s own doubts about it. Using the few textual clues he provides, I speculatively reconstruct his defense of this rule, showing that it can be grounded on our interest in self-realization (...) through work. This reconstructed defense makes liberal use of concepts already present in A Theory of Justice , including the Aristotelian Principle (which motivates the achievement of increasing virtuosity) and the Humboldtian concept of social union (which provides the context for the development of such virtuosity). I also show that this commitment to self-realization, far from violating the priority of right in Rawls’s theory, stems directly from his underlying commitment to autonomy, which is the very foundation of the moral law in his doctrine of right. The reconstituted defense of this priority rule not only strengthens the case for justice as fairness but also has important and controversial implications for public policy. (shrink)

As national and state health care policy -making becomes contentious and complex, there is a need for a forum to debate and explore public concerns and values in health care, give voice to local citizens, to facilitate consensus among various stakeholders, and provide feedback and direction to health care institutions and policy makers. This paper explores the role that regional health care ethics committees can play and provides two contrasting examples of Networks involved in facilitation of (...) class='Hi'>public input into and the development of health care policies and adoption of state-wide practices. (shrink)