Desert as a Parsimonious, Emergent Social Institution

Abstract

"Social scientists study the effects of many types of justice on human behavior and policy, generating important empirical findings, but often without a cogent underlying theory, and often at the expense of our understanding of justice, overall. I propose a single definition of justice, hinging on an emergent, variable desert. Whatever the context, justice is the rewarding of desert. Stipulating who deserves what, and why, conversely, depends critically context. Centering justice on desert clarifies the oft-abused language surrounding justice and bridges otherwise distinct conceptions of justice. Desert also provides a theoretical grounding for justice's influence on human behavior. Desert is a social institution that communities erect around an array of multiple-equilibria problems concerning the distribution of socioeconomic resources and responsibilities. As an institution, desert statements can be codified in the standard Institutional Grammar, thereby prescribing, demanding, or forbidding certain actions, with built-in incentives to conform."