PSIR Test 04 Model Answers

Q.1. : ‘Rawls has sought to achieve the goal of substantive justice

through the methodology of procedural justice’. Elucidate and
Comment.
• The distinction between procedural and substantive justice forms the core of the
modern debate on the nature of the justice. ‘Procedural justice’ emphasises that it is
necessary to determine and follow a just procedural for the allocation of the social
goods. It is based on he ideas of formal equality of individual as human beings and
thus, repudiates all forms of differences between them. On the other hand, substantive
justice is based on the idea of justness of the contest or outcome of laws or social
policies. It demand that the opportunities for self-development should be progressively
extended to the disadvantaged sections of society. In concrete terms, rights-based
justice is soon as procedural justice, whereas needs based justice as substantive
justice.
• John Rawls, in his book ‘Theory of justice’ presents a very strong defence of the idea
of justice based on the basic tenets of procedural theory i.e. justice requires following
of just rules. He places men behind the ‘veil of ignorance’ in a hypothetical original
position where individuals are deprived of the basic knowledge of their social contest,
abilities, skills etc. But they will have what Rawls calls a ‘sense of justice’.
• However, given the uncertainty about the actual position in the society, the contractors
would choose those principles which would maximize the position of worst-off,
assuming that when the ‘veil of ignorance’ is removed, they themselves would turn out
to be the worst-off.
• However, Rawls theory, in order to respond to the critics of procedural justice, Rawls
suggest that under controlled conditions rational human beings would choose
principles that would uphold principles consistent with the basic idea of substantive
justice or distributive justice.
• According to Rawls, under the condition of original position, people will agree to
accept two principles of justice in the lexical order. Firstly, equality principle where
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each person is to have an equal right to liberty compatible with a similar liberty to
others. Secondly, principle of fair equality of opportunities and difference principle
ensures that any departure from the principle of equality brings maximum benefit to
the least advantaged. In other words, inequalities should be arranged that they benefit
the worst-off section of the society.
• It is in this context it has been argued that Rawls has sought to accommodate the
requirements of substantive or social justice in his well drawn scheme of procedural
scheme. It is his this attempt to synthesize these different conceptions of justice that
marked the inauguration of a ‘golden age in theorizing about justice’.

Q.2. : Elaborate the libertarian view of justice with special

reference to the view of Nozick and Hayek.
i. Libertarian perspective on justice focuses on formal liberty, insists on minimal role of
the state, considers right to property as an important ingredient of individual liberty
and is largely opposed to the idea of ‘welfare state’. This perspective is chiefly
represented by Nozick and Hayek.
Nozick’s theory of justice
ii. Robert Nozick, in his ‘Anarchy, state and utopia (1974)’, sought to advance an
alternative to Rawls's theory of justice.
According to him, Rawls theory compromises liberty for the sake of equality and goes
against the principle of human dignity.
iii. Nozick has given ‘Entitlement theory of justice’ like Locke, he believes that man should
have the absolute right over his property (Entitlement of man). Apart from it,their
entitlement to bits of natural world and the product of their labour should be based
on three principles on which their entitlement would conform to justice.

• Initial acquisition
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Whereby an individual comes to appropriate some previously snowed bits of natural

world. This mode of acquisition shouldn’t result in creating scarcity for others.

• Voluntary transfer
It applies to all property whether acquired through initial acquisition or by mixing
one’s labour with the natural world i.e. by means of one’s talents, efforts etc in a
market situation.

• Rectification
This is precisely the area where the state will be justified to intervene in order to
restore justice after involuntary transfers and unjust acquisitions of natural
resources. Thus, he gives the concept of REGULATORY STATE.
Analysis
iv. Nozick’s theory is often used to explain or justify USA’s actions in middle east.
v. Nozick claims to discover the principle of justice for all human beings. But his bias
clear as his theory justifies competitive market society which favours the rich and
resourceful.
vi. Nozick’s theory is just a criticism of Rawl’s theory from libertarian point of view and
thus, can’t be considered to be sound theory in comparison to Rawls.
Hayek’s views on justice
• Hayek was a champion of freedom that enables the talents to flourish and thereby
promote progress. He placed liberty or freedom above every other values like equality
and justice. He particularly attacked the concept of social justice as an unrealizable
principle.
• In his work, ‘law,legislation and liberty’: The mirage of social justice (1976), he
argued that the idea of social justice is irrelevant. He argued that as society has only
limited resources, if we try to adopt the policy of social justice, the sections of society
responsible for implementation of that policy would assume the power of arbitrary
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distribution of resources, which will harm individuals freedom and the incompetent
groups or individuals will get undue advantages.
• Therefore, he emphasizes that justice is the characteristic of human conduct, not of a
society. If freedom is curtailed to promote equality, the disputes over the distribution
of goods will lead to conflict. Thus, search for justice is simply a matter of procedure
designed to promote freedom. In concrete terms, justice requires that each individual
should get maximum opportunity to serve his interest according to his own
understanding.

Q.3. : Show that the principle equality concedes the rational

grounds of discrimination. In this connection, examine the debate
on reverse discrimination.

• Equality is a relative concept. The demand for equality has always been against the
prevailing inequalities in the society. Inequality is a universal feature of all societies
and its opposition has been fundamental to all social relations.
• If equality doesn’t imply literal equality in distribution of rights and advantages, it is
bound to accept discrimination on certain grounds. It is in line with the argument that
there’s no greater inequality then the equal treatment of unequals. According to
Aristotle, injustice arises when equals are treated unequally and also when unequals
are treated equally.
• There are broadly two rational ground of discrimination or making special provisions.
• Special provision in the case of need
This may apply both to allocation of liabilities and concessions. A progressive taxation
system to cater to the needs of the poor, provisions of social services, scholarships are
all certain special provisions in the case of need.
• Special reward for excellence
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Special provision for excellence is itself a basic tenet of the principal of equality. It
comes into play when basic ‘needs’ have been largely met, and special talents and
efforts are to be given special rewards, provided they’re beneficial to society. The
principle of excellence postulates that special talents and efforts becomes the most
important criteria of distinction and special reward, which is conducive to society. Eg.
Awards and honours given to citizens.
Debate on reverse discrimination
• If the principle of equality is interpreted to concede discrimination in favour of some
deprived sections of the society so that favoured treatment is accorded to them, it is
known as ‘reverse discrimination or affirmative actions’.
• Reverse discrimination is based on the ‘principle of redress’ to rectify the undeserved
inequalities. It is an attempt to compensate for hitherto prevailing inequalities or
discriminations.Proponents of affirmative actions consider it as a part of society’s
efforts to address continuing problems of discrimination so as to compensate for the
deprivation of adequate opportunities for their development in the past.
• However, the opponents argue that if equality aims at removal of discrimination
there’s no justification for turning the existing discriminatory practices in the reverse
direction. In other words, discrimination in the favour of deprived sections results in
discrimination against the non-deprived sections. In addition to it, the principle of
reverse discrimination has been opposed on the following grounds.

• Merit argument
The meritorion principle dictales that social goods should be allotted on bases of one’s
merit or ability. It assumes best justice as it allocates the rewards or goods on the
basis of on objective criterion and not on personal characteristics of an individual. It
also provides an incentives for hard work and development of personal capacities.
• Rights argument
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According to Dworkin, the term ‘rights’ can be used in two different ways.
(2) ‘Claim-rights’
It means right is a claim of a person and it enforces duty on others. In other worlds
the existence of the right concerns the behaviour of someone others than the right-
holder as another person has the duty to act in a certain way with respect to the ‘thing’
to which the first person has a right. Thus, it gives an expression of a ‘claim’ on other.
Dworkin calls it a ‘strong’ sense of right.
(3) ‘Liberty-rights’
It means rights should give freedom to pursue what one wants to do. Here, it is the
right-holders behaviour that is in question. In other words, one has a right to act in a
particular way means that he’s normally free to do so. Dworkin calls this as a ‘weak’
sense of right.

Q.4. : ‘Democracy is essentially a contested concept’. Do you

agree. Give arguments in support of your view?
• The concept of democracy is at the centre of the fierce debate in political theory.
Democracy has been described as one of the ‘characteristic institutions’ of modernity’
and was result of a complex and interwined process of ideological, social and politico-
economic change. However with these changes, several other interlinked concepts
emerged that marked the distinction between ancient and medieval society on one
hand and modern societies on the other. This democracy is soon as a part of a cluster
of concepts in which the concept of right, freedom and equality are the most control.
The common theme connecting these concept is the principle of individualism and
individual autonomy.
In this sense, democracy is a form of government, which gives opportunity to people
to participate in governance which could ultimately create suitable condition for
individual development by providing them with rights, freedom and equality.
• However, contrary to the conventional view of democracy as a form of government,
some philosophers like John Dewey, have shifted the focus to the idea of democracy
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as a way of life. According to Dewey, democracy is more than a form of government,

it is primarily a mode of associated living of conjoint communicated experience.
According to him, the method of democracy is to bring conflicts out in open where
they can be discussed and judged. In short, the scientific method of inquiry,
communication and experimentation before arriving at the conclusion is the hallmark
of a democratic public living.
• Therefore, in this context of diverse interpretations it can be argued that democracy
is essentially a 'contested' concept.

Q.6: Examine the views of Isaiah Berlin on ‘value pluralism ’.

How is it related to his notion of liberty.
(i) Berlin’s development of pluralism began negatively with the identification of opposing
position, which he referred to as ‘monism’. The monists claim that there’s only one
ultimate value and rest all values are valuable in so far as they contribute to happiness
such simple understanding can lead to distortion of real picture.
(ii) In this context, Isaiah Berlin, a pluralist, proposed the concept of ‘value pluralism ’
and argued that there’re several values, which are neither reducible to each other
over to a super value. According to Berlin, genuine values are multiple and often in
conflict with each other.
For eg- Liberty can come into conflict with equality. Thus, Berlin calls for ‘toleration
of values’ in navigation between conflicting values.
• The concept of liberty was classified in 1969 as ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ liberty by
Isaiah Berlin in his celebrated work, ‘Two concepts of liberty’.

Negative liberty
• According to Berlin, negative liberty of individual consists in not being prevented from
attaining his goal by other human beings or institutions. It indicates the injustice that
prohibits acts that restrict freedom. Berlin, however makes it clear that incapacity to
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attend a goal is not unfreedom and states that only restrictions imposed by others
affect one's freedom.
• Therefore, for Berlin, negative liberty as freedom is the opportunity to act, not action
itself. It focuses only on availability rather than exercise of opportunity.
For eq- It makes no distinction, between liberty to pursue occupation of one's choice
and liberty to starve.

Positive liberty
• The positive sense of the concept of 'liberty', according to Berlin, derives from the will
of the individual to be his own master. Therefore, it not only refer to 'non-interference'
or 'absence of constraints', but also the 'freedom to do so'.
• Therefore, according to Berlin, within liberalism, there’s no consensus on the value
of ‘liberty’ as there can be different interpretations. Therefore, he employed his
conception of ‘value pluralism’ to suggest that while there can be preference to or
belief in a particular value, yet one must exercise ‘ toleration’ which is a deliberate
act of self restraint towards the actions or ideas with which a person disagrees. In this
way, he suggests that ‘toleration’ rather than ‘liberty’ gives the core value of
liberalism and call it as the ‘substantive part of liberalism'.

Q.7. : What are the underlined factors behind the phenomenon of

Brexit? What challenges and opportunities Brexit create for
India?
• With its genesis in the aftermath of the 2nd world war, the European project was born
out of a widely held belief that a more united Europe wouldn’t again fall prey to the
large scale distinctions. However the UK has always portrayed itself as a reluctant
member of the EU, which is evident from the fact that it declined to accept an invitation
to join the European coal and steel community (1951). Within a year of its European
Economic Community (EEC) membership, UK started asking for major changes to
agricultural and farm policies of the EEC.
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• Also, influenced by the Norwegian referendum (1972) that scuttled Norway’s

application for membership of EEC, UK held its first referendum on EU membership
in 1975 and even though the British public supported continued membership of the
EU (67%), within two years of entering the EEC, Britain was already exploring exit
options. Thus, the precedent of a referendum already existed.
• During the course of its membership of the EU, Britain often sought opt outs over
issues like single currency, charter of human rights, justice and home affairs
legislation etc.
• One of the most important factors behind Brexit is the slow but steady growth of right
wing and anti-immigration sentiments (both from EU and non-EU) as seen in the
outcome of general elections held in UK in 2010 and 2015.
Impact of Brexit on India
Challenges
• Apart from regional uncertainty, the changing dynamics can potentially reverberate
to reach Asia.
• India’s FTA negotiation with EU might now needs a re-negotiation with the union.
Additionally, a separate bilateral trade agreement with UK might also need to be
worked on.
• Indian companies, having operations throughout EU, will now have to re-assess their
workforce mobility along with expansion plans and operations.
• According to reports, deepening recession’s risks and unhedged exposure the British
pound on account of Brexit might impact IT demand, affecting revenues of Indian IT
companies.
Opportunities
(i) UK would want to develop trade relations with emerging markets from around the
world. Thus India, with its large domestic market, is in a better negotiating position.
(ii) India could emerge as a major source of high tech exports for the UK.
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(iii) The UK’s currency is expected to remain weaker so it would be less expensive for
Indian firms to import from their subsidiaries in the UK.
(iv) UK could try to attract Indian FDI by offering more opening up markets.

Q.8. : Discuss the current state of India-France relations and to

what extend it would be right to call France as ‘new Russia’?
(i) According to C Raja Mohan, as middle power face an increasingly uncertain
geopolitical environment, both India and France are eager to deepen their
partnership. As a result, France and India already have a fairly multifaceted
relationships spanning multiple domains from defence, civil nuclear and space to
climate change, clean energy and maritime.
Similarity between two countries
(ii) The two countries share a similar strategic outlook. Both have a strong sense of
national pride in their civilisational and cultural heritage. While both are American
partners, both believe in issue-based agreement or disagreement. Apart from it,
independence in foreign policy decision making-or strategic autonomy as India refers
to it-is something that France is comfortable with.
Important domains of their engagement
(iii) Among various fields of engagement, their vision and plan of action for maritime
security and outer space stand at as particularly important. With regard to maritime
security (with a focus on the Indian Ocean), India and France have reiterated
importance of respecting international law. In addition, both countries have a joint
plan of action on Indian ocean, which envisages greater use of space assets to gain a
more useful appreciation of the maritime environment and strengthen information
sharing on the emerging maritime dynamics in the Indian ocean.
(iv) Apart from it, France also remains a vital source of arms supply to India with the
Discount Mirage 2000 fighter and 36 Rafale jets being at the top of the list.
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(v) Owing to this growing importance of India-France relationship PM Modi in his

speech at UNESCO in Paris referred to ‘INFRA meaning INDIA AND FRANCE’ as
being vital in the 21st century.
France as the new-Russia
• The growing state of India-France relationship has raised the question about France
replacing Russia as India’s trustworthy friend and partner in the western world.
• India and France have built a deep economic, security and diplomatic relationship
over the last few decades that has spanned the cold war era and strengthened in the
last decade.
• According to C Raja Mohan, alliance with France promises stability in Eurasia and
Indo-Pacific as Indian recalibrates ties with Moscow slowly but surely. Throughout
the cold war year, Russia (Soviet union) was India’s veto-providing friend in the
UNSC and provided India with economic assistance and defence equipment. Today,
Russia has a closer relationship with China and is not as cognisant of India’s interests
especially when it comes to Pakistan, Afghanistan and terrorism. France appears to
have moved into the Russian vacuum.

• Among the permanent members of UNSC, France has been consistent in supporting
India’s bid for permanent membership. They also share a similar goal on issues like
climate change.
• While Russia’s response on India’s recent decision on Jammu and Kashmir was
lukewarm, France, on the other hand, has been one of the steadiest partners of India
in recent decades. A place that used to be reserved for the Russia in the past. In other
words, after Russia’s ambiguous stand, India tends to nurture its relationship with
other important partners such as France.
• Defence co-operation between the two countries is multi-dimensional with
institutional exchanges, joint production, joint military exercises and training, defence
supplies such as Rafale jets etc.