RBSE Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 4 Social Justice

These comprehensive RBSE Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 4 Social Justice will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 11 Political Science Chapter 4 Notes Social Justice

→ Meaning of Justice:
The word ‘justice’ has been derived from Latin word ‘Jus’ which means bond or tie. It means, justice is that system where all individuals are related to each other. Justice is connected with the fact as to what type of moral, social, economic, political and legal relations an individual has with the other individual. In modern political science, Justice stands for that state of social life in which personal rights are combined with social welfare.

• According to Salmond, “Justice means to give every individual his due share.”
• Merriam States, “Justice consists in a system of understanding and procedures through which is accorded what is agreed upon as fair.”

→ Importance of Social Justice
The importance of social justice is increasing day- by-day in a modern democratic state. Social justice is the very basis of present welfare state. Once Pandit Nehru expressed his view that Marxism is extremely popular not because of its scientific principles but for its readiness for social justice. Social justice is very essential for the maintenance of social harmony and peace in the society. To make democracy a success, social justice is essential.

→ Platonic Concept of Justice
Platonic justice simply means the will to fulfil the duties of one’s station and not to meddle with the duties of another station and its habitation is in the mind of every citizen who does his duty at his appointed place. No class should interfere with the task of the other class. Justice is the bond that holds a society together, a harmonious union of individuals each of whom had found his lifework in accordance with his natural fitness and his training. There is nothing better for a man than to have his work and to be fitted to do it. There is nothing better for other men and for the whole society than that each should thus be filling the station to which he is entitled. To Plato, justice is an indispensable quality of moral life in the community. Platonic justice does not embody a concept of individual right; it conceives of individual duties as well.

→ Protective Discrimination
Protective discrimination is a permitted discrimination. It is in favour of weaker section of society and it is also justifiable. Under protective discrimination, the state can discriminate in favour of certain weaker sections of the society by offering to protect their interest. It is justifiable because it works for the betterment and upliftment of weaker sections of the society. Protective discrimination implies giving preferential treatment. However, it does not mean giving special advantage to a particular section but to raise them to a level where they can take advantage of the principle of opportunity.

The State, therefore, tries to remove imbalances in social, political and economic life. India has also adopted the policy of protective discrimination. Thus, the efforts of the state to improve the conditions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute the essence of protective discrimination. The principle of protective discrimination is not against the principle of equality. The principle of protective discrimination changes the principle of equality from theory into practice. ‘Protective discrimination strengthens, rather than weakens, the cause of equality.’