ABSTRACT
This chapter uses developments in contemporary economics (especially in welfare economics) to show that it is both politically and economically necessary that democratic states actively (that is, by means of good public action) care for social justice as well as for economic efficiency. In the present context of global markets and of pluralistic societies, it is illusory for a democratic state to aim at implementing at the same time economic efficiency and social justice. The political objection is the one both ultra-liberals and Marxists would put forward. In the present context of modern capitalism, it is mistaken to assume that social justice and economic efficiency are compatible principles of public action. They are not, since they are based on contradictory values, namely those of social equality on the one hand and of economic freedom on the other. The prudential approach for public action places the emphasis on the institutional means necessary for democratic deliberations framing public choices.
