ABSTRACT

The convenient state has constant reference to man, and is adjusted to his real endeavors. It is the meeting of political institutions with the mystery and activity of man, a standing-together of political discipline and the individual discipline of exercised freedom. If the state is not meant to initiate man into his place in the world, what is its function? The earliest and most arresting answer is Plato's: the end of the state is justice. The enduring attractiveness of the Order of Justice arises from its total reliance on reason. The political ideal of The Federalist elevates compromise to a principle of harmony. It is one of the major attempts to articulate an Order of Convenience. Only the Order of Convenience, of enlightened expedience, of prejudice mobilized toward improvement, can give the practical art of politics a combination of flexibility and stability.