The basis for Dworkin's conception of political equality is his “abstract egalitarian principle”, according to which all citizens must be treated with equal concern. This can be interpreted as either demanding that our political institutions generate outcomes that treat us equally or that the procedures that our political institutions consist of treat us equally. Here, Dworkin makes a distinction between equality of political impact and equality of political influence. In a further disaggregation of political power, Dworkin identifies that impact and influence operate on both horizontal and vertical dimensions.
Here, I argue that equality of political impact alone is a necessary condition for political equality. Further, I argue for the desirability of equality of political impact on both the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Significantly, the modification I propose to Dworkin's principle leads to different conclusions regarding the need for laws to embody citizens' judgements, as opposed to their mere preferences.
