BY EXAMINING THE DENVER INCOME MAINTENANCE EXPERIMENT, THIS ARTICLE DEVELOPS CRITERIA TO DECIDE WHETHER TO INITIATE SUCH EXPERIMENTS. THESE CRITERIA FALL INTO 2 CATEGORIES, 1) REFERRING TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE EXPERIMENT, 2) TO THE CONSENT OF PERSONS AFFECTED BY THE EXPERIMENT. FURTHER IT DISCUSSES THE BASIS OF COMMITMENTS THAT GOVERNMENTS MAKE TO CITIZENS WHO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS.
A review essay on: (1) Robert Goodin's Political Theory and Public Policy (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1982); (2) Virginia Held's Rights and Goods: Justifying Social Action (New York: Free Press, 1984); (3) Douglas Lackey's Moral Principles and Nuclear Weapons (Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allenheld, 1984); (4) The Security Gamble: Deterrence Dilemmas in the Nuclear Age (MacLean, Douglas [Ed], Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allenheld, 1984); & (5) Energy and the Future (MacLean, Douglas, & Brown, Peter G. [Eds], Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1983 [see listings for each of these works in IRPSPPD No. 11]). One of the foremost concerns in philosophical theories of public policy, as illustrated in these works, is the moral problem of decision making under conditions of ignorance, which can be a universal uncertainty or differential knowledge. As discussed by Goodin, such uncertainty does not justify ignoring the consequences of policies for future generations. Recently, philosophers have begun to consider the characteristics of policymakers & the process by which their preferences are expressed, as exemplified in Held's work, which also discusses the failure of citizens to be well-informed & public-spirited. While the philosophers, in the works reviewed, urge policymakers to use their discretion in decisions, as their knowledge may give rise to better policies than the public could choose, they must remember that citizens need to be better informed to judge the value of these policies. The democratic process in which these decisions take place deserves the same attention as the policies shaping it; the dissemination of information & legislator accountability to present & future citizens are crucial. D. Graves.
The editors of the Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business are to be congratulated for commemorating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Economic Community with this issue. This issue brings together many distinguished experts to deal with the very diverse legal consequences of the Rome Treaty. From these contributions it will be seen that the new legal order in Europe has taken firm root.
