PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Justice

Comment on substantive justice in about 150 words.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
Rr! procedural = fair rules / method → substantive = fair outcome → judged by condition of the disadvantaged R2 justice not only in a neutral process → asks who actually gains → outcome-test over rule-test
Body flow
content + outcome of laws, real distribution → close to socialism → can the poor improve their condition → needs-based over rights-based → progressive extension of self-development opportunity → state central: curb wealth concentration, redistribution / welfare / land reform → Young: change unjust structures, not just individual remedies → Rawls: substantive concern inside a procedural theory (Difference Principle)
Counter-view
liberal worry: outcome-focus can weaken liberty and formal equality → substantive reply: formal equality alone leaves injustice untouched
Conclusion routes
R1 procedure fixes the method, substance fixes the result → both needed; substance gives justice its social content R2 in a deeply unequal society formal equality is not enough → substantive justice makes equality material

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2013, Justice