Book Description

The world is currently plagued by polarization, hyper-partisanship, authoritarianism, Majoritarian Democracy, Identity Politics, zero-sum politics and economics, inequality, racism, sexism, populism, Nativism, and dystopian societies. There is a desperate cry for solutions to these problems. This book is dedicated to solving these problems. This book identifies the extent of the problems as they are manifested in America. Then, this book takes the novel approach of operationalizing Justice as Fairness as the foundation of it uses the myriad works of John Rawls to devise solutions to these problems. Specifically, it uses Rawls’ “Justice as Fairness” as the foundation of a revolutionary set of solutions to these global problems.) This book is at once observational, diagnostic, prophylactic, and prognostic in its focus. This book takes an observational, diagnostic, and prophylactic approach to solve the problems above. According to Rawls, “Justice as Fairness” is an exercise in “ideal (metaphysical) theory.” This book goes beyond the metaphysical, by rendering Justice as Fairness into the realm of “nonideal (real world) theory.” It does this by first deciphering and explaining Justice as Fairness’ challenging concepts using ideas borrowed from many disciplines. The book then moves on to develop a Justice as Fairness Logic Model which identifies the structures, mechanics, and dynamics of Justice as Fairness. Then, this book operationalizes Justice as Fairness through the creation of a revolutionary management system, “Equity Management,” and a companion license-fee-free web-based software system, “Plato.” Equity Management-Plato was developed using Justice as Fairness, Systems Theory, program evaluation techniques, the judicial principle “strict scrutiny,” and Environmental Scanning and Forecasting. Finally, this book outlines how Equity Management-Plato can be used to manage six public sector environments ultimately creating a level playing field and just, fair, and inclusive circumstances for all Americans. The historical, political, social, and economic contexts of this book derive from the American experience. However, the problems and solutions identified in this book are universal. Therefore, the prognosis for countries adopting Equity Management-Plato is the development of new social contracts the adoption of Representative Consensus Democracy; justice, fairness, inclusion, reconciliation, and the realization of E Pluribus Unum. If affirmatively adopted and implemented, the solutions proposed in this book will result in the creation of Rawls’ “realistic utopias,” the saving of liberal democracy worldwide, and ultimately the creation of a “better world.” Author_Bio: Charles A. Washington is currently the President of Washington & Associates, Inc. which specializes in software design, development, and related consulting. Previously, he was President of Washington & Rice, LLC that was responsible for developing and disseminating contract compliance software named “Champ” and “Champ-Web” which was sold into four states. He spent eight years working for government agencies as a Grants Manager and as a Contract Compliance Manager. He received a BA degree (double major in Political Science and Black Studies), a MA degree, and a Ph.D., all from Indiana University-Bloomington. He taught at Cleveland State University, Jackson State University, Cuyahoga County Community College, and Lakeland Community College. He is married and has two children. He currently lives in Ohio. Keywords: John Rawls, Justice As Fairness, Social Contract, Equity Management-Plato, Representative Consensus Democracy; Justice, Fairness, Inclusion, Positive-Sum Politics And Economics, Reconciliation