Binding Force and Remedies

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated entirely to what may be regarded as the most fundamental political question of contract law, i.e. what justifies the legally binding force of contract law? What business do public institutions have in recognizing and enforcing private agreements? Could a society decide not to enforce contracts and still be sufficiently just? And if indeed a society ought to publicly recognize and enforce contracts, then which remedies should it make available? Leading contemporary political theories differ not only in the answers provided to this most fundamental political question of contract law but also in their respective understandings of the question, in particular on which aspects of it they consider particularly relevant.