ABSTRACT
The idea that the founding obligations of a social order are derived from the voluntary association of equally situated and empowered indi viduals is explicit in social contract theory. Until the publication of John Raw ls’s Theory o f Justice, utilitarianism dominated political theory. Rawls revived social contract theory, providing a comprehensive system atic social and political theory and arguing that the principles of justice themselves rested on an implicit social contract. In so doing, Rawls cre ated one of the most powerful and cogent theories of a liberal, democra tic egalitarianism.
