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Abstract
Policy analysis and policy debate make a difference in the formulation of public
policy. However, policy analysis and debate are often biased or incomplete.
People are inconsistent as to the "legal and moral rights" they invoke and
apply to different policy issues. We are much like the horse wearing blinders.
For example, many of those who supported the Declaration of Independence, with its ringing
endorsement of equality among men, held slaves and perceived no conflict between
their beliefs and behavior. The perception of equality and its application in political-economic
life was highly selective. Still later, the Civil War was fought over different perceptions
of politically or morally acceptable definitions of property rights.