Generality and the Efficiency of Government Decision Making

Abstract

Most democratic governments have explicit requirements that a nation’s civil and criminal law applies equally to all those who live within its boundaries. For example, the 6th and 14th amendments of the U.S. constitution assure due process and equal protection under federal law. Similar protection is assured under Article 3 of the German Basic Law, Article 1 of the French constitution, Article 14 of the Spanish constitution, and Article 14 of the Japanese constitution. Buchanan and Congleton (1998) argue that the generality principle can, and should, be applied to other areas of public law and public policy as well. For example, one can apply “equal treatment under the law” to taxation and expenditure policies, which is rarely done. Just as the principle of equal protection under the law limits opportunities for the criminal justice system to be used to punish members of a minority, so would its application to taxation and government services limit opportunities for fiscal exploitation of minorities.