Procedural fairness in economic and social choice: Evidence from a survey of voters

Abstract

The paper argues for the relevance of procedural justice to social choice and presents supporting evidence from primary data on voter attitudes. A preliminary section proposes and discusses five propositions that indicate the potential value and significance of processes for social choice. Section 3 considers evidence for what psychologists have called `voice' and the extent to which control over, or representation in, a decision is compatible with other economic notions of fair process, like random choosing. Section 4 examines empirical evidence that sensitivity to process fairness may be a means of dealing with power inequalities between interacting agents. Section 5 goes on to examine evidence concerning treatment which in some way is threatening a person's position as an agent. A brief concluding section summarises and indicates avenues for future research.