The domination complaint

This chapter discusses the main constraints that should expect any candidate for a central or supreme political ideal to satisfy, distinguishing between constraints of feasibility and constraints of desirability. It explores that the ideal of non-domination does remarkably well in satisfying those feasibility and desirability constraints. The constraints of feasibility are the state or polity should be able to do something about relieving or remedying the complaint in question. The complaint about being dominated not only passes the feasibility constraints but is admissible and significant already goes a long way to establishing that it ought to have a serious place in politics. The chapter considers how far the rectification of complaints about domination in a society would go to establishing a sample of other ideals. It describes the sample liberty, equality, and community — the three ideals of the French revolution - as well as functioning capability, in Amartya Sen's phrase, and a contractualist conception of justice.