The Political Morality of Liberal Democracy

by Perry, Michael J.

• ISBN13: 9781107672383
• ISBN10: 1107672384
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-20
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

In this important new work in political and constitutional theory, Michael Perry elaborates and defends an account of the political morality of liberal democracy: the moral convictions and commitments that in a liberal democracy should govern decisions about what laws to enact and what policies to pursue. The fundamental questions addressed in this book concern (1) the grounding, (2) the content, (3) the implications for one or another moral controversy, and (4) the judicial enforcement of the political morality of liberal democracy. The particular issues discussed include whether government may ban pre-viability abortion, whether government may refuse to extend the benefit of law to same-sex couples, and what role religion should play in the politics and law of a liberal democracy.

Table of Contents

Liberal Democracy, Human Rights, and Religious Faith

Liberal democracy and human rights

Liberal democracy and religious faith

First Principles

The right to moral equality

The right to religious freedom

Beyond religious freedom: the right to moral freedom

Religion as a basis of lawmaking

First Principles Applied

Abortion

Same-sex unions

The Constitution of Liberal Democracy

Protecting constitutionally entrenched rights: the courts' - in particular, the US Supreme Court's - proper rule

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.