Jana Dubinovsky

Professor Willis

American Political Thought

May 9, 2022

Philosophical Theories of Justice in American Political Ideologies & Applications

Justice has long been a concept sought to be universally defined. In order to

truly understanding foundational American documents and their underlying philosophies,

it is important to critically analyze a historical and political background, especially as it

pertains to the various levels of justice distributed to American citizens. It is crucial for

justice to be granted through government stewardship over individuals, and also for the

state itself to operate in a manner that does not entail tyranny of any one person or party.

The law is the absolute lowest codification of morality – however, what is legal may not

be necessarily moral, and vice-versa. The law is absolute and rigid, and yet is not an

example of an absolute truth. We, as humans, gathered together and shook hands,

ostensibly, creating rules for each other so that no one person may become too strong or

hurt others without consequence. As laws are broken, so they are then enforced by those

under the social contract. After a crime, or what is deemed a crime by the people, is

committed, it is then a contrarian duty to carry out the appropriate punishment. This is
seen as the application of justice within the legal system. One of the greatest difficulties

in the organization of a state is how much of an individual’s private life is appropriate

and justified to be regulated, especially in consideration of harm mitigation against

others. The Patriot Act, capital punishment, the draft – all of these are implementations

that arguably violate fundamental individual human rights of liberty, privacy, and

autonomy. Is this justified, to proliferate further authoritarian control for the benefit of

the greatest good? “Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best

state, is but a necessary evil; in is worst state an intolerable one,” writes Thomas Paine in

Common Sense (1776). When critically assessing the structure and function of a

government, it is important to remember that each of these systems in place have been

created extensionally by humans and do not exist as their own entities. Laws that are

written down have no meaning if they are not enforced and understood by all.

Furthermore, structures of government put humans in uneven positions of power over

others, and this is a formidable obstacle when contemplating the ideal form of society, in

which each individual has the means and ability to pursue virtue and flourishment

throughout the duration of their natural life.

In forming justice within an institution, it is necessary to relegate balances of

power on federal, state, communal, and individual levels, in order to ensure equality of

liberty, which is why one of the biggest worries of the founders of the nation of the

United States of America was preserving individual autonomy. Unlike feudal and

monarchal systems in Europe in the past, it was the focus of the new democracy to
construct a government that exists to support its citizens, not the other way around.

Before and during this period, the Enlightenment era, the greatest fear of some

philosophers were irrational individuals permitted to roam free and materialize their free

will without restriction of an unbiased sovereign to assuage disputes. After several

centuries of suppression, often based on land ownership or status of servitude, it was

becoming increasingly clear to the general populace that upheaval of the pervading

systems was necessary, culminating in several revolutions and generating chain reactions.

This is an ongoing struggle today, in which we see the ramifications of imperialism,

conquest ideology, and the increasing disparity between the global ‘developed’ north and

‘developing’ south. What is most troubling is how leaders of nations such as the United

States throughout history, even after vowing to uphold ideals of justice, are not able to

put these theories into practice in regard to uplifting struggling citizens in their own

country.

What ought justice in a nation look like? Justice is a subjective internal virtue,

often not able to be measured, but certainly missed in its absence. Aristotle, for example,

in Nicomachean Ethics, describes multiple kinds of justice. “One kind is that which is

manifested in distributions of honor or money or the other things that fall to be divided

among those who have a share in the constitution…ne is that which plays a rectifying

part in transactions between man and man. Of this there are two divisions of transactions,

some are voluntary and others involuntary” (Book V, Chapter 2). There is broad justice,

which refers to objective lawfulness, and narrow justice, referring to exchanges between
individuals. Broad justice can be applicable within the objective sphere of legality in

ensuring that civilians live a life that is free from reasonable suffering, and those who

harm others receive retribution. In order to assume the scope of justice eligible to apply to

individuals within our institutional boundaries, it is necessary to establish laws which

serve as extrinsic elements of human reason, as further elaborated on by St. Thomas

Aquinas in Summa Theologica. Law is important in the organization of justice for it to

truly work towards equality of opportunity of all moral agents. Laws must be established

with “an ordinance of reason for the common good” (Summa Theologica II-i, q. 90, a. 4).

In the United States constitution, the authors outlined how justice would be enacted on an

individual and state level. Most of the Bill of Rights enables justice in some way, shape,

or form. The fourth amendment, for example, protects citizens from unreasonable search

and seizure at the behest of the government. The fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments

further protect citizens accused of or involved in a crime against another, in the right to a

speedy trial by jury, the right to counsel, the right to be held without excessive bail or

undergo cruel or unusual punishment, warranting that justice is upheld via fulfillment of

basic human rights. The first amendment is also a clear example of justice within the U.S.

Constitution. Under no circumstances can governmental branches, officials, or systems

have the right to oppress onto anyone a restriction of basic autonomy such as their

freedom to speak clearly, represent their religion, beliefs, or opinion without fear of

tyranny, the freedom to petition the government when necessary to ratify social, political,

or legal change, among others. Justice is also ensured within checks and balances in the

branches of government themselves. In the US, the three main branches of government –
the judicial, executive, and legislative – all have their own separate powers in order to

make sure that no one element gains complete political authority. These balances are

outlined in the main articles of the United States Constitution, establishing meaningful

boundaries between the abilities of various government branches. Congress is responsible

for authorizing state legislature, but is not permitted to enable its own budget. The

President, the head of the executive branch, is elected both through popular vote and the

electoral college, a system used as a failsafe against a population that had not yet received

the benefit of standardized education. The judicial system plays the role of mitigating

disputes between the executive and legislative branch, as well as being the highest court

of law in the United States. The most important acts of justice ratified in the constitution

were acts passed through recognition of previous immorality and harm done against

individuals by virtue of their inherent characteristics such as race, sex, age, religion,

sexuality, gender identity, disability status, or birthright. Such pieces of legislation

include the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the thirteenth, fourteenth,

fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth amendments, all Amendments

Thirteen through Fifteen, Nineteen, Twenty-Four, and Twenty-Six, all establish a

constitutional right for all citizens to participate expressively in civil society.

As seen, there are many ideals of justice embedded within United States

foundational documents. However, the applications of such must be examined in order to

truly assess if the institution has achieved the goal of being a support system for its

citizens, and not ruling over its constituents with fear or unwarranted power. Clearly, if
justice had been ethically instituted within the nation since its founding, there would be

no need for legislative acts and amendments rectifying past grievances. In light of these

historic injustices, there has thus been some disconnect between lofty ideals and actual

utilization, or otherwise the system has been structured in a way that generates injustice,

not just permits it. There is likely truth in both of these statements. Reverend Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), states, “there can be no

gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably

the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is

well known…On the basis of these conditions, [Black] leaders sought to negotiate with

the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.”

The Constitution clearly outlines several basic individual rights of all citizens, and for

many centuries, since the first Africans were brought to America as slaves and up until

the present day, there has been blatant injustice and cruelty brought against Black people

in the United States. How can one argue that the Constitution upholds justice when

justice is not seen in many communities, especially communities of color, around the

nation? Rev. Dr. King, Jr., continues on in his letter, “Just as Socrates felt that it was

necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage

of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective

appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in

society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the

majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.” During the Civil Rights Movement

of the mid-twentieth century, the attitudes African-Americans in the United States about
the pain and suffering they had been subject to for the past four hundred or so years

culminated in movements and protests around the country, petitioning for desegregation

and the elimination of unjust laws that continued to hurt and beat down the community at

large. Dr. King, Jr., gives specific examples of how the implementation of many laws

around the nation were specifically unjust to the African-American community. “An

unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group

to obey but does not make binding on itself…A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a

minority, that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or

devising the law.” To the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, civil disobedience was

an important element of gaining full range of human liberties and societal benefits as

United States citizens. “This American government- what is it but a tradition, though a

recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing

some of its integrity?” asks Henry David Thoreau in Civil Disobedience (1849). Similarly

to Thomas Paine, Thoreau, who was protesting the conflict between Mexico and America

at the time, believes in the importance of individual liberty and flourishment over the

government gaining increased power over its citizens.

There is a lengthy list of historic cruelties performed under the jurisdiction of

legality in the United States, that is still ongoing. The Civil Rights Movement did not

miraculously eradicate all injustice in the legal system against Black Americans,

unfortunately to say, and neither did movements such as feminism or Women’s Suffrage

grant complete and total freedom to women that had been previously denied, though no
one in the current day would argue that the position of women in society has not been

greatly elevated from past beliefs. There is still much work that needs to be done. The

Black Lives Matter movement, risen in necessity and popularity during the past decade,

shines light to the issue of police brutality against people of color, specifically African-

Americans. Police around the United States have a history of discriminatory systemic

practices, including the over-policing in lower income areas, which often include large

minority populations. Disproportionately, these communities have also been affected by

the War on Drugs (the tackling of which is also a responsibility on the shoulders of police

officers), especially during and after the Reagan Administration. These communities are

heavily patrolled by police, but people in these neighborhoods often have reasons for not

trusting police, and so crime and vigilantism prevail. The environment in a police

department will also contribute to negative interactions with people of color, including

zero-tolerance policies, possible history of excessive force, inadequate non-biased

training, or the use of police as the main combatants of social unpleasantries such as

homelessness and drug use. All of these have a harmful impact on the victims of police

brutality, and have contributed to aggression from both police and civilians. This is

wildly problematic, as an unbiased third-party agent would agree. Policing institutions

are those implemented to carry out justice in communities by preventing and punishing

crime, especially those against other people. What happens, then, when it is the so-called

proponents of justice themselves are the ones inhibiting it for many citizens? There is

cognitive dissonance between the law as it is written and the practical application of such.

Even though the Constitution forbids unwarranted search and seizure and enables the
right to a fair trial, often, this is not the reality for many disenfranchised members of

contemporary society.

Though American foundational documents provide a strong baseline for liberty

and justice granted to all individuals inhabiting the nation’s soil, it is the truth that there is

still great injustices being committed to many people by virtue of their existence. There

are certain anti-social, but harmless, behaviors, that are heavily penalized, such as

homelessness, mental health issues, and substance addiction and abuse. Instead of

providing support and resources for the people that need help, they are often at the whim

of policing and the judicial system, which both tend to enact cruelties on these people for

their way of living. This is unjust. People of Color in the United States are often the

target of legal discrimination and hate-crimes against them because of their race or

ethnicity. Women, though now allowed to vote and receive an education, still fight for

the same competitive salary as men, as well as paid parental leave, universal healthcare

and the constitutional right to abortion, and many other outdated patriarchal remnants

leftover in the minds of traditionalists. There is injustice ongoing in the United States,

despite all efforts of the founding fathers (or maybe even because of it), that desperately

needs change.
 Works Cited

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. National Archives, U.S. National

Archives and Records Administration, 4 May 2020, www.archives.gov/founding-

docs/constitution-transcript.

Aristotle, , W D. Ross, and Lesley Brown. The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2009. Print.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail. Penguin Classics, 2018.

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274. The "Summa Theologica" of St. Thomas

Aquinas ... London :Burns, Oates & Washburne, ltd., 192042.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862. Walden ; and, Civil Disobedience : Complete Texts

with Introduction, Historical Contexts, Critical Essays. Boston :Houghton Mifflin,

2000.

Paine, Thomas, and Thomas Wendel. Thomas Paine's Common Sense: The Call to

Independence. Woodbury, N.Y: Barron's Educational Series, Inc, 1975. Print.