Liberal and Radical Equality of Opportunity

Different conceptions of equality of opportunity have been developed in political philosophy. However, these conceptions have not been empirically implemented and compared. We develop an empirical framework to measure liberal and radical equality of opportunity. Both conceptions consider it unfair if ascribed characteristics such as social origin, immigrant background, race, and gender affect life chances. Liberal equality of opportunity considers it fair if abilities and individual choices affect life chances. Radical equality of opportunity only considers it fair if individual choices affect life chances. We measure liberal and radical inequality of opportunity in education, occupation, income, and wealth using survey data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Radical inequality of opportunity is considerably greater than liberal inequality of opportunity and even more so for education and occupation than for income and wealth. Conclusions about equality of opportunity depend on the conception of equality of opportunity. From the perspective of liberal equality of opportunity, the U.S. is a rather just society, while the nation’s degree of radical inequality of opportunity is high.