A Social Democratic Vision

Abstract

This chapter considers the social democratic origins of post-war administrative justice and human rights. It emphasises the relevance of administrative justice to ordinary daily life and its importance as a set of principles that govern the relationship between individual citizens and the democratic state. It identifies the social rights entitlements to health, social care, education and housing as integral to the post-war human rights vision, and touches upon the way in which the devolved legislatures in Scotland and Wales have begun to reinstate that vision. It proposes the ‘relational’ character of both administrative justice and human rights as central and a ‘duty of active kindness’ as critical to their realisation.