ABSTRACT
Rational social action, economic planning, and economizing impinge upon an endless variety of these human values. For almost nothing human is alien to politico-economic organization. The goal of political equality might be justified, too, on theological and metaphysical grounds. In searching for goals useful as criteria for appraising alternative politico-economic techniques, so far we have set forth three—freedom, rationality, and democracy—on which a great many intelligent citizens of western societies could no doubt quickly agree. If political equality is a goal to be striven for, then a means to it is majority rule in the “last say” in governmental decisions. A certain minimum level of subjective insecurity may be necessary to induce individuals and groups to take precautions against the future. The condition of political equality assigns to the electorate the position of an ultimate court of appeal to decide where else in society the condition of equality may be enforced or forgone.
