ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches the problem of political legitimacy through the perspective of distributive justice, a pivotal notion in modern civil society where the state is an institution within society, not a political authority elevated above social institutions. In this context it is worth stressing that state authority cannot be legitimised exclusively by distributive justice, but is primarily found in the relation between freedom and power. The chapter examines the political philosophies of John Rawls and Robert Nozick, dominant figures in the debate on liberalism, democracy and the welfare state and explores different visions on how social justice is related to solidarity. It then explores the insight of Marx, that private property, solidarity and distributive justice are inextricably linked to the social division of labour. Marx's vision of society raises the question whether the political ordering of society can be divorced from the social division of labour.
