Watson, George W.2014-03-142014-03-141997-05-24etd-3213172239721111http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30413By combining normative philosophy and empirical social science, I craft a research framework for assessing differential expectations of economic justice within the economic social contract of the United States. I argue that distinct views of such a contract grounded in the tradition of individualism and communitarianism manifest in people's judgments about economic justice. We empirically test these hypotheses on a sample of 270 subjects, finding broad support for the theoretical framework.In CopyrightnoneDissertationhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-3213172239721111/