Politics Quotes

"Moral reasoning in contemporary society has become little more than the clash of individual preference and social utility."

"Modern individualism mistakenly assumes that the individual can determine values independently of tradition."

"Modern liberal theory fails to account for the ways in which human identity is constituted by tradition."

"Civil disobedience is justified when fundamental injustice persists despite normal democratic channels."

"Political legitimacy rests on a fair system that all could reasonably accept."

"The reasonable pluralism of a liberal democracy is a permanent condition, not a temporary fact."

"Political equality is prior to economic equality in the lexical ordering of justice."

"Legitimacy requires that political institutions be justifiable to all citizens as free and equal."

"Fair value of political liberty demands limits on political influence of economic power."

"Political legitimacy requires that basic institutional arrangements be justifiable to all citizens."

"Taxation of earnings from labor is on a par with forced labor."

"A minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, and fraud, is justified."

"The pursuit of patterned justice requires constant surveillance and control over people's conduct."

"A just distribution cannot be maintained without continuous interference in people's choices."

"The minimal state respects the separateness and independence of individuals."

"Forced contribution to others' welfare violates the independence of the giver."

"Contracts freely entered form the basis of legitimate political authority."

"The minimal state is the most expansive state that can be justified."

"The state has no right to enforce substantive conceptions of the good life."

"The minimal state emerges naturally from the operation of individual rights."

"The state's power should be limited to protecting individual rights from violation."

"The political philosophy of minimal government reflects respect for human dignity."

"The minimal state protects all individuals equally without favoring any vision of the good."

"Redistributive justice treats people as property of the collective."

"Legitimate authority arises from the protection of pre-political individual rights."

"The state cannot legitimately force some individuals to serve the purposes of others."

"Legitimate political institutions respect the separateness of persons."

"The minimal state represents the only form of government consistent with individual rights."

"Individual rights precede and limit political authority."

"Legitimate political structures emerge when individuals consent to governance."