What Are Political Institutions For?

Abstract

This chapter rejects the widespread idea that political institutions and private modes of action are ultimately interchangeable means for the pursuit of the independently defined goal of justice. It defends the view that political institutions, including a democratic system of law, are constitutive of justice, rather than merely instrumental to it. It also discusses how claims of justice can be defined and enforced through political institutions in a way that respects both the fundamental status of persons as equal normative authorities and their independence. The chapter opens the possibility that justice is fully compatible with a highly privatized system of governance against the background of a political authority that retains functions of lawmaking and adjudication. It emphasizes the privatization of governance that compromise the very reasons why support authoritative political institutions should be brought about even in the presence of an established public authority.