Strict Equality Research Articles

Post‐Secularism and the European Court of Human Rights: Or How God Never Really Went Away

This article analyses the critical yet elusive notions of state neutrality, secularism and religious coercion under the European Convention in light of the European Court of Human Rights recent decision in Lautsi v Italy. We contend that the real concern in the Italian crucifix case was not the infringement of the school pupils’ religious freedom nor the proselytising or coercive effect of the ‘passive’ religious symbols. Rather, opponents of the longstanding symbols were animated by desire for strict religious equality, a notion that is, correctly in our view, not guaranteed under the Convention. Lautsi has significantly cleared the conceptual undergrowth surrounding state neutrality and the varieties of secularism, reined in the elastic notion of religious coercion and eschewed attempts to squeeze the constitutional diversity of European religion‐state frameworks into a strict American‐style separationist mould. The Convention jurisprudence on freedom of religion has finally come of age.

Asset Pricing Restrictions on Predictability: Frictions Matter

U.S. stock portfolios sorted on size; momentum; transaction costs; market-to-book, investment-to-assets, and return-on-assets (ROA) ratios; and industry classification show considerable levels and variation of return predictability, inconsistent with asset pricing models. This means that a predictable risk premium is not equal to compensation for systematic risk as implied by asset pricing theory. We show that introducing market frictions relaxes these asset pricing moments from a strict equality to a range. Empirically, it is not short sales constraints but transaction costs (below 35 basis points) that help to reconcile the observed predictability with linear portfolio return-based factor models, and partly with the durable consumption model. Across the sorts, predictability in industry returns can be reconciled with all models considered with only a 25 basis point transaction cost, whereas for momentum and ROA portfolios, up to 115 basis points are needed. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.

Electoral redistricting and minority political representation in Canada and the United States

This article compares the political representation of visible minorities in Canada and the United States, focusing on differences in federal redistribution (redistricting) practices and constituency composition. Although the two countries both use territorially‐based electoral systems, they operate under different legal standards and institutional environments for the creation of ridings (districts). In the US, redistricting is a highly political process, yet must respect strict population equality standards. Litigation over redistricting is common, and courts adjudicate voting and representation under a constitutional system enforcing strong individual rights. In contrast, Canada's redistribution process is relatively nonpartisan, permits large population variances among ridings, places more emphasis on community rights, and is seldom subject to extensive court challenges. Despite these differences, the two countries exhibit striking similarities in the overall level of visible minority representation relative to population share. Conversely, Canada's population inequalities among ridings create a systematic disadvantage for visible minorities. Political attention to visible minority representation is stronger in the US, but the means to achieve it are constrained both by the judicial limits on group representation and the constitutional limits on the use of racial identity. Canada has a framework for political representation that could easily accommodate significant visible minority representation but lacks the political imperative to use it, in part because doing so would run counter to Canada's multicultural image of these groups as immigrants rather than as non‐white minorities.

The quest for culturally-sensitive health-care systems in Scotland: insights for a multi-ethnic Europe

In his article, Bhopal clearly sets out the fundamental importance of culturally-sensitive health-care systems and proposes that developments in Scotland can provide valuable learning for a multi-ethnic Europe. It is timely to be reminded of the still widespread presence within health-care systems of stigma, as well as poor understanding of inequities in health, the meaning of ethnicity or the needs of minority groups. On a more personal level Bhopal laments that professionals have hardly ever heard of or read about law or health policy, but stresses the crucial nature of individual action and professional sincerity. These two strands of Bhopal’s critique of lack of progress on culturally-sensitive health-care systems in Europe— limited developments in health policy and health institutions, and the lack of awareness amongst health professionals— provide a powerful reminder of the current state of play, despite the excellent foundations for improvements that have been developed in recent years. It is worth stepping back to consider why the work that Bhopal describes is so important. At its heart lies a value that any civilised health-care system must place centre stage: equality. Bhopal’s work shows two distinct ways in which equality is vital. First, there are health inequities (inequalities that are unfair) between different ethnic groups which must be tackled. Marmot’s work provides vivid examples of ways in which unequal starting places and unequal wealth lead to unequal health outcomes. Some such differences are immense—for example, the 28-year difference in life expectancy between some rich and poor parts of Glasgow. The philosopher John Rawls, in his classic work A Theory of Justice, argues that how well the worst-off groups fare is a key litmus test for a just society. According to his famous ‘difference principle’, inequalities in the things that really matter can be justified only if allowing these inequalities makes the position of worst-off groups better than it would be under strict equality. Limited inequalities in wages can be justified according to this principle, but the type and the current scale of health inequalities cannot. Culturally-sensitive health care matters for its own sake as well as the important effects it has in reducing health inequalities through better targeted services. Providing culturally-inappropriate health care sends a corrosive message that only some, but not all, ethnicities fully count. The philosopher Avishai Margalit coined the idea of the decent society as one whose institutions do not humiliate its members. It is this striving after decency which explains why culturally-sensitive health care matters. Public bodies cannot treat individuals as equals unless they ensure services are suitable for, and tailored to, people of all ethnicities. It is salutary to be reminded of the importance of philosophy to health policy and to public health theory and practice. In his paper, Bhopal shares important experiences from Scotland and presses, quite rightly, for more progress in Europe. Yet, as another contemporary philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, would argue, it is action on such ideas that really matters.

The distributive justice of a global basic structure: A category mistake?

The present article explores ‘anti-cosmopolitan’ arguments that shared institutions above the state, such as there are, are not of a kind that support or give rise to distributive claims beyond securing minimum needs. The upshot is to rebut certain of these ‘anti-cosmopolitan’ arguments. Section 1 asks under which conditions institutions are subject to distributive justice norms. That is, which sound reasons support claims to a relative share of the benefits of institutions that exist and apply to individuals? Such norms may require strict equality, Rawls’ Difference Principle, or other constraints on inequality. Section 2 considers, and rejects, several arguments why existing international institutions are not thought to meet these conditions.

Asset Pricing Restrictions on Predictability: Frictions Matter

U.S. stock portfolios sorted on size, momentum, transaction costs, M/B, I/A and ROA ratios, and industry classification show considerable levels and variation of return predictability, inconsistent with asset pricing models. This means that a predictable risk premium is not equal to compensation for systematic risk as implied by asset pricing theory (Kirby 1998). We show that introducing market frictions relaxes these asset pricing moments from a strict equality to a range. Empirically, it is not short sales constraints but transaction costs (below 35 basis points) that help to reconcile the observed predictability with the Fama-French-Carhart four-factor model and the Chen-Novy-Marx-Zhang three factor model, and partly with the Durable Consumption model. Across the sorts, predictability in industry returns can be reconciled with all models considered with only 25 basis points transaction costs, whereas for momentum and ROA portfolios up to 115 basis points are needed.

Disagreement without reconciliation: Democracy, equality and the public realm

Nancy Fraser claims that the public sphere did not live up to the assumption of strict equality envisioned by Arendt and Habermas. She also believes that socioeconomic equality is a necessary condition for a truly democratic public realm. This is problematic not because equality is an unworthy goal but because it ties its pursuit to classical narratives of emancipation and hence to an ethos of reconciliation, at least implicitly. I argue instead that public space is structured around an ethos of polemicization and propose two criteria to frame its relation with equality. One is that public space comes into being through a polemic about the status of the given. This polemic tests the boundary between public and private and very often reconfigures it. The other criterion is that equality is always a contested equality to come. This is not because it takes the shape of a delayed presence – of an ideal equality that is simply not‐yet‐here – but because it can never find a resting point: the question of equality opens up whenever there is an attempt to verify it.

A Review of Kristján Kristjánsson, 2006. Justice and Desert-Based Emotions. Aldershot: Ashgate

moral principles) and even nominally ascribe to them but he could never have a sense of justice in situ. To use some pseudo-scientific language of my own, for Hoffman, it is an empathic disposition that ‘‘turns you on’’ and ‘‘tunes you in’’ to human suffering as something to be pained about. It structures and informs one’s perception of other people’s aversive experiences in a way that is characteristic of morality as it is commonly understood—that is, as placing demands on us to suspend hypothetical first-person action incentives in the name of others’ (deserved) weal and woe. William Damon and ‘‘Positive Justice’’ Reasoning Of the three theories of justice internalisation Kristjansson tackles, his response to Damon’s (1975) stage-theory of ‘‘positive justice’’ reasoning is by far the clearest illustration of his neo-Millian notion of theoretical ethics in dialogue with empirical moral psychology. Damon’s theory presents a descriptive account of how children’s thinking about fair sharing progresses over the course of childhood, from about age 4 to age 10. Its novelty resides in showing that an appreciation for familiar principles of fair distribution of the kind that appear in Sher’s (1987) list of desert-base categories—strict equality, equity (to each according to need), self-interest (to each according to what he wants), merit (to each according to ability, effort, good behaviour, etc.) and ad hoc group rights (to us according to our social status, age, gender, etc.)—comes cognitively on line among children in a specific sequential order. Furthermore, the particular stage sequence that Damon’s theory traces, which begins with first-person wants, proceeds to ad hoc claims to group rights, and then on to strict equality, and beyond, can be accounted for in terms of the basic mechanisms of developmentalism: de-centration and growth towards greater conceptual ‘‘adequacy’’. That is to say, higher stages are not just different from lower stages. They are ‘‘better’’ insofar as they constitute a more sophisticated understanding of distribution problems. The highest stage marks the ability to draw judiciously on the range of distributive criteria in consideration of their relevance to the situation at hand and its social goals and purposes. In Kristjansson’s own attractive wording of it, ‘‘the oldest children 64 B. Maxwell

New Spaces for Inclusion? Lessons from the ‘Three‐Thirds’ Partnerships in Wales

AbstractMulti‐sector partnership working has become an increasingly important mode of governance across many Western European countries. It is seen as a means of overcoming social divisions, promoting more inclusive policymaking, and transforming governance systems. Partnership is perceived to be a more flexible form of governance, capable of resolving some of the complex policy and legitimation problems associated with more traditional statist approaches, and thus preferable for the delivery of public policy and services. However, as previous research has shown, there is an emerging ‘partnership crisis’ with partnerships often failing to be sufficiently inclusive of representative interests, leading to a lack of legitimacy, equity and effectiveness. This article explores the unique approach to addressing the lack of balanced and effective representation in partnerships developed by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Assembly has adopted a formal approach to structuring key partnerships on the basis of strict equality of representation across the public, private and voluntary sectors — the so‐called ‘three‐thirds principle’. This approach is conceptualized as a form of metagovernance whereby formal influence over partnership structures is being used in an effort to create institutional spaces for inclusion. The analysis indicates that while such network design does achieve improvement in partnership legitimacy, on its own it does not increase partnership effectiveness which remains constrained by the prevailing emphasis upon narrow, managerialist implementation agendas.RésuméLe partenariat plurisectoriel est devenu un mode de gouvernance de plus en plus important dans de nombreux pays d'Europe de l'Ouest. Il apparaît comme un moyen de surmonter les divisions sociales, de favoriser une élaboration plus diversifiée des politiques et de transformer les systèmes de gouvernance. Le partenariat est perçu comme une forme plus souple de gouvernance, capable de résoudre certains des problèmes complexes de politique publique et de légitimité associés à des approches étatistes plus traditionnelles, donc préférable pour la mise en place des politiques et des services publics. Pourtant, une étude antérieure l'a montré, il se dessine une ‘crise du partenariat’, ce fonctionnement ne parvenant souvent pas à intégrer suffisamment les groupes d'intérêt représentatifs et conduisant à un défaut de légitimité, d'équité et d'efficacité. L'article étudie l'approche unique du gouvernement gallois pour traiter l'absence d'équilibre représentatif et d'efficacité dans les partenariats. Une démarche officielle a été adoptée pour structurer les partenariats‐clés sur la base d'une stricte égalité représentative entre les secteurs public, privé et associatifs, selon le principe dit des ‘trois tiers’. Le concept est une forme de méta‐gouvernance par laquelle une influence s'exerce formellement sur les structures de partenariat afin de créer des espaces institutionnalisés permettant l'inclusion. L'analyse indique que, si ce concept en réseau réussit bien à améliorer la légitimité des partenariats, à lui seul il n'accroît pas leur efficacité, laquelle reste dépendante de la prépondérance courante de programmes de mise en oeuvre limités et ‘managérialistes’.

On SU(1,1) intelligent coherent states

Generalized coherent states associated with SU(1,1) Lie algebra are reviewed. A state is called intelligent if it satisfies the strict equality in the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. The eigenvalue problem satisfied by intelligent states (IS) is solved. The IS associated with SU(1,1) Lie algebra are investigated. We have constructed some realizations for our results of IS, and some applications are discussed. Some nonclassical properties such as Glauber second-order correlation function, photon number distribution and squeezing are investigated.

The connection between two ways of reasoning about partial functions

Undefined terms involving the application of partial functions and operators are common in program specifications and in discharging proof obligations that arise in design. One way of reasoning about partial functions with classical First-order Predicate Calculus (FoPC) is to use a non-strict equality notion so as to insulate logical operators from undefined operands. An alternative approach is to work only with strict (weak) equality but use an alternative Logic of Partial Functions (LPF)—a logic in which the “Law of the Excluded Middle” does not hold. This paper explores the relationships between the theorems that can be proved in the two approaches. The main result is that theorems in LPF using weak equality can be straightforwardly translated into ones that are true in FoPC; translation in the other direction results, in general, in more complicated expressions but in many cases these can be readily simplified. Such results are important if the laudable move towards interworking of formal methods tools is to be sound.

Asset Pricing Restrictions on Predictability: Frictions Matter

textabstractU.S. stock portfolios sorted on size, momentum, transaction costs, M/B, I/A and ROA ratios, and industry classi cation show considerable levels and variation of return predictability, inconsistent with asset pricing models. This means that a predictable risk premium is not equal to compensation for systematic risk as implied by asset pricing theory (Kirby 1998). We show that introducing market frictions relaxes these asset pricing moments from a strict equality to a range. Empirically, it is not short sales constraints but transaction costs (below 35 basis points) that help to reconcile the observed predictability with the Fama-French-Carhart four- factor model and the Chen-Novy-Marx-Zhang three factor model, and partly with the Durable Consumption model. Across the sorts, predictability in industry returns can be reconciled with all models considered with only 25 basis points transaction costs, whereas for momentum and ROA portfolios up to 115 basis points are needed.

Conditional Term Graph Rewriting with Indirect Sharing

For reasons of efficiency, term rewriting is usually implemented by term graph rewriting. In term rewriting, expressions are represented as terms, whereas in term graph rewriting these are represented as directed graphs. Unlike terms, graphs allow a sharing of common subexpressions. In previous work, we have shown that conditional term graph rewriting is a sound and complete implementation for a certain class of CTRSs with strict equality, provided that a minimal structure sharing scheme is used. In this paper, we will show that this is also true for two different extensions of normal CTRSs. In contrast to the previous work, however, a non-minimal structure sharing scheme can be used. That is, the amount of sharing is increased.

Dynamic Control Allocation for Shaping Spacecraft Attitude Control Command

For spacecraft attitude control, reaction wheel (RW) steering laws with more than three wheels for three-axis attitude control can be derived by using a control allocation (CA) approach. 1-2 The CA technique deals with a problem of distributing a given control demand to available sets of actuators. 3-4 There are many references for CA with applications to aerospace systems. For spacecraft, the control torque command for three body-fixed reference frames can be constructed by a combination of multiple wheels, usually four-wheel pyramid sets. Multi-wheel configurations can be exploited to satisfy a body-axis control torque requirement while satisfying objectives such as minimum control energy. 1-2 In general, the reaction wheel steering laws determine required torque command for each wheel in the form of matrix pseudo-inverse. In general, the attitude control command is generated in the form of a feedback control. The spacecraft body angular rate measured by gyros is used to estimate angular displacement also.? Combination of the body angular rate and attitude parameters such as quaternion and MRPs(Modified Rodrigues Parameters) is typically used in synthesizing the control command which should be produced by RWs.¹ The attitude sensor signals are usually corrupted by noise; gyros tend to contain errors such as drift and random noise. The attitude determination system can estimate such errors, and provide best true signals for feedback control.? Even if the attitude determination system, for instance, sophisticated algorithm such as the EKF(Extended Kalman Filter) algorithm?, can eliminate the errors efficiently, it is quite probable that the control command still contains noise sources. The noise and/or other high frequency components in the control command would cause the wheel speed to change in an undesirable manner. The closed-loop system, governed by the feedback control law, is also directly affected by the noise due to imperfect sensor characteristics. The noise components in the sensor signal should be mitigated so that the control command is isolated from the noise effect. This can be done by adding a filter to the sensor output or preventing rapid change in the control command. Dynamic control allocation(DCA), recently studied by Harkegard, is to distribute the control command in the sense of dynamics⁴: the allocation is made over a certain time interval, not a fixed time instant. The dynamic behavior of the control command is taken into account in the course of distributing the control command. Not only the control command requirement, but also variation of the control command over a sampling interval is included in the performance criterion to be optimized. The result is a control command in the form of a finite difference equation over the given time interval.⁴ It results in a filter dynamics by taking the previous control command into account for the synthesis of current control command. Stability of the proposed dynamic control allocation (CA) approach was proved to ensure the control command is bounded at the steady-state. In this study, we extended the results presented in Ref. 4 by adding a two-step dynamic CA term in deriving the control allocation law. Also, the strict equality constraint, between the virtual and actual control inputs, is relaxed in order to construct control command with a smooth profile. The proposed DCA technique is applied to a spacecraft attitude control problem. The sensor noise and/or irregular signals, which are existent in most of spacecraft attitude sensors, can be handled effectively by the proposed approach.

Kant on Capital Punishment and Suicide

In the Metaphysics of Morals Kant clearly, and indeed ardently, upholds the state's right to impose the death penalty in accordance with the law of retribution (ius talionis). The “principle of equality” as between crime and punishment demands that those who wrongfully kill another should be put to death, for, in having inflicted such an evil upon another, the murderer has effectively killed himself. Kant is quite emphatic on this point: those who have committed murder “must die”. Here, he argues, “there is no substitute that will satisfy justice”, for there “is no similarity between life, however wretched it may be, and death, hence no likeness between the crime and the retribution unless death is judicially carried out upon the wrongdoer […]”. The ius talionis is, for Kant, the basic principle and measure in accordance with which criminal justice functions. Since the ius talionis entails a strict equality between crime and punishment, Kant's insistence that only the death penalty serves as the appropriate response to murder (or to any other equally egregious crime) is fairly straightforward.

Religion, International Human Rights and Women's Health: Synthesizing Principles and Politics

For many people at the turn of the millennium, human rights have become the new language of faith resonate with great meaning and profound value. However, like all traditional religions, human rights embody great complexity. Neither coherent nor consistent, human rights cannot overcome the fallibility of its human creators. When we attempt to use rights as absolute values - Dworkin's trump cards against infringement - we find ourselves confronting the contradictions inherent in equally valued rights when they come in conflict. As noted by many authors, nowhere is this conflict more pronounced than the conflict between women's rights and the rights of freedom of conscience/religion present in many international human rights instruments. Lest this be thought a problem of Western privilege, where women can afford the luxury of seeking political parity with men, in this paper I will confront human rights conflicts that have a direct impact on women's health. This will include both reproductive health concerns and female circumcision/female genital mutilation. In attempting to address these conflicts, I will begin by analyzing the nature of human rights to health and the particular rights of women to health - with the problems created by their separation from non-gendered rights. Next, I will begin my principled argument by arguing against both an absolutist understanding of rights, and a "strict equality" standard of interpretation that seeks to recognize a hierarchy of rights. Such an approach fails as a matter of law, as a matter of philosophy (under the foundationalist challenge), and in the face of history. Instead, I argue that while a principled interpretation of rights can provide some guidance, its utility is limited. Instead, it is imperative to consider rights within their political context. Human rights do not stand outside politics, but instead reflect aspects of that politics. Ultimately, the goal of any rights analysis is not to determine which rights take precedence, but how to find a synthesis respectful of each.

Choice-egalitarianism and the paradox of the baseline: a reply to Manor

In 'Choice-egalitarianism and the paradox of the baseline' (2003) I proposed a paradox pertaining to choice-egalitarianism (CE), the dominant philosophical view of egalitarianism. In his ingenious response, Tal Manor (2005) uses my reductio argument against my own argument. I made two claims against CE. First, that under careful analysis, CE compels us to bring about states of affairs so unacceptable that the position becomes absurd. By virtue of its very conceptual structure, CE gives us manifestly wrong instructions. Second, that CE's hope of reconciling a strong egalitarianism with robust personal choice and something like the prevailing market economy is a chimera. Manor's paper does not dispute my second claim. Indeed, his own claim, that in fact CE leads to something close to strict equality, supports my pessimism about CE's reconciliation project. My reply to Manor therefore focuses on his denial of my first claim, that choice-egalitarianism leads to absurdity. According to CE, the moral baseline is equality, and the only way of justifying inequality is if it results from one's free choice: people may not

Modeling the relationship between self-consciousness and competition anxiety

The present study examined the relationship between self-reported levels of self-consciousness and competition anxiety among a sample of sportspeople ( N = 519). We hypothesized that self-consciousness would exhibit a positive linear relationship with competition anxiety via the mediator of social anxiety and that this relationship would be moderated by gender. Path analysis using robust maximum likelihood estimator techniques in EQS were employed to examine model fit. Examination of fit indexes demonstrated that the fit of the baseline a priori model was good (Robust CFI = .98, SRMR = .06). Multigroup analyses assessing invariance across gender were conducted by imposing increasingly strict equality constraints. The models displayed good fit (CFI = .96, SRMR = .08); however, inspection of the Lagrange multiplier test and then single-sample models revealed the path between social anxiety and somatic anxiety was stronger for females. We concluded that the relationship between self-consciousness and competition anxiety is mediated by the experience of social anxiety; however, the present findings refute the hypothesis that the relationship is moderated by gender.

Identity Versus Culture in Mergers of Equals

We suggest that organizational identity — ‘who we are’ — may be as influential as culture — ‘how we do things’ — in affecting the integration process, especially in mergers of equals. We also suggest that the framing of a merger as one of ‘equals’ is itself likely to reinforce existing organizational identities by setting up an expectation of strict equality in all aspects of the merger.

Is Contemporary Western Family Law Historically Unique?

Over the past decades, a wave of family law reforms has shaken the very foundations of family law as known in the West over the past centuries. Strict gender equality has been introduced, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children has been abolished, divorce has been facilitated, and the borderlines between marriage and cohabitation and between heterosexual and homosexual relations are fading. Is this new family law historically unique? A broad historical and intercultural comparison undertaken to answer this question shows that a remarkable and unexpected substantive similarity can be observed between the family laws of the contemporary West and the folkways of some hunter-gatherer societies. This is explained by the fact that in both types of society, as opposed to nearly all other societies on the record, the social function of family law is reduced (or on its way to being reduced) to organizing fathers for newborn children.