A Constitutional Right to a Universal Basic Income

Abstract

This article explains how a legal argument for a constitutional right to a universal basic income (UBI) in the United States could be constructed. My aim is to move the idea of a constitutionally-required UBI from the implausible to the plausible, suggesting that it is less far-fetched than it may initially appear to be. In Dworkinian terminology, everyone is entitled to equal concern and respect under the Constitution. Judges can read its abstract language morally when they decide real constitutional cases to make the country more just. In egalitarian liberalism, the quality of a person’s life must not depend on financial circumstances that are mostly beyond her control and the government must protect the most vulnerable members of society from financial insecurity to enhance their personal autonomy. I reduce the sharp distinction between positive and negative rights in contemporary constitutional doctrine by elaborating on how the U.S. Constitution, and the case law that has glossed it over time, can establish a constitutional right to a UBI. A constitutional right to a UBI is morally justified and constitutionally possible; it is only implausible inasmuch as the timing is far from ideal.