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Introduces the nomination process for the Swedish Political Science Association's Essay Prize and the winning essay for 2008 by Mikael Persson titled 'Did the egalitarian reforms of the Swedish educational system equalize levels of democratic citizenship?' The essay studied the effects of the educational reform done in the mid 1990's and was proclaimed to be well written and methodologically advanced by the awarding committee. L. Pitkaniemi

This contribution to a symposium on John Rawls seeks to account for why John Rawls, our age's preeminent political philosopher of egalitarian justice, ultimately endorsed a third international regime that includes many peoples establishing the rules, agreements, & accommodations required to maintain those peoples' peace when feasible & to foster mutually beneficial cooperation, while taking those steps that concern globally consensual emergencies & crises. Rawls's positions are reasonable from two perspectives; his thinking is both principled & practical, but it is not complete. Several of his broad principles might bring about less global toleration & more redistribution than the thesis in The Laws of Peoples implies. Tables. K. Coddon

This study examines how the power of women is constructed by divorce professionals in a divorce process that is governed by rabbinical family law, the egalitarian ideology of the recently established family courts, and the growing use of mediation in divorce disputes. It is based on 254 questionnaires and 57 interviews with lawyers, mediators, and lawyer‐mediators. We found that except for a minority of women lawyers, practitioners claimed that women were not disadvantaged by family law, and that mediation does not adversely affect weaker parties. However, their reactions to hypothetical situations indicated that rabbinical law does matter for women's bargaining power, and for lawyers' recommendations for mediation. This study reveals the complexities of the social construction of gender and power in divorce negotiations and the role of women professionals in empowering divorcing women.

Many US states now allow people to create private trusts that continue indefinitely. Is it unjust to permit settlors to benefit their descendants without temporal limitation? Although perpetual trusts might seem self-indulgent impositions on posterity, no leading theory of distributive justice appears to bar their creation. The societal benefits from increased work effort and savings by potential settlors probably outweigh any societal drawbacks to perpetual trusts if trustees can sell or encumber trust property, justifying their availability in a utilitarian state. Various libertarian theories would give donors this freedom as well. In addition, liberal egalitarians should permit them, subject to redistributive taxes appropriately designed to benefit the less fortunate.

Discusses Sweden's egalitarian social and economic system, and the impact of globalization, the International Monetary Fund-backed policies of free trade, privatization, and lower taxes and public spending (the "Washington Consensus").

In this article, the authors examine sociopolitical and ideological change and the social construction of women's private and public roles in the Republic of Azerbaijan. They first elaborate the social constructionist theoretical orientation that guides the analysis. Next, they focus on ideology and social entrepreneurs and on the social construction of gender. Third, they examine in greater detail the socio-political, economic and ideological transition from 1991 to the present. (DSE/DÜI)

Is the political support for welfare policy higher or lower in less egalitarian societies? We answer the question using a model of welfare policy as publicly financed insurance that pays benefits in a redistributive manner. When voters have both redistributive and insurance motives for supporting welfare spending, the effect of inequality depends on how benefits are targeted. Greater inequality increases support for welfare expenditures when benefits are targeted to the employed but decreases support when benefits are targeted to those without earnings. With endogenous targeting, support for benefits to those without earnings declines as inequality increases, whereas support for aggregate spending is a V-shaped function of inequality. Statistical analysis of welfare expenditures in advanced industrial societies provides support for key empirical implications of the model. (American Political Science Review / FUB)

Multiculturalism is the right-minded rhetoric of diversity of the moment. What is its political substance? Brian Barry reads Britain's Parekh Report & considers the animating philosophy behind it. How far are they compatible with an egalitarian universalism, & what are the implications for traditionalist minorities? Are doctrines of karma just a harmless metaphysical whim? Adapted from the source document.

Four strategies for augmenting egalitarianism on a national level are investigated: (1) redistributing property rights; (2) implementing a tax-and-transfer mechanism; (3) increasing spending on education, especially for disadvantaged children; & (4) decreasing the gap in wage earnings. The political & economic feasibility & expected payoffs of each strategy are considered. Analysis of strategy effectiveness indicated that increased spending on education & a tax-&-transfer mechanism were moderately or highly feasible & produced medium or high payoffs. However, the tax-&-transfer approach was viewed as not capable of increasing the earnings of individuals. The feasibility of instituting the various strategies on a national level is briefly addressed; the possible flight of capital resulting from egalitarian reform is viewed as benefiting poorer households. J. W. Parker

The question of whether an egalitarian redistribution of incomes will expedite or retard the "demographic transition" of underdeveloped countries is considered. The econometric results obtained by Robert Repetto in his pioneering inquiry into this problem (see SOPODA 1:2/D0502) are reexamined. While not questioning the validity of Repetto's hypothesis that there is a positive relation between fertility & inequality, it is argued that his analysis contains certain theoretical & statistical weaknesses. Accordingly, it is suggested that policymakers in underdeveloped countries would be unwise to employ any of these estimates derived from Repetto's simultaneous model in the formulation of demographic & economic policy. In particular, his statistical results do not provide substantive support for the proposition that a reduction in inequality would entail a decrease in fertility. 1 Table. Modified AA.