ABSTRACT

This chapter demonstrates that in comparative social justice research, both the normative and the rational reasoning are necessary. The dominant-ideology thesis assumes that a particular society has a consistent ideology for evaluating distributions of goods that is shared by virtually all members of that society. In the United States, the service class favors egalitarian statism more than the non-service class, proving that ideology to be a secondary ideology in the United States; whereas in both Germanies egalitarian statism is a primary justice ideology cherished by all, independent of class. Speaking of Germany in the 1990s however, must not leave unconsidered that Germany is two societies in one. Both were only very recently united, East Germany—what has been the German Democratic Republic—integrating with the West only gradually. The relationships between the macro level justice norms and the micro level claims people make for improving their personal well-being in everyday life is something social justice research must focus attention on.