A Theory of Justice

A framework is necessary to more simply apply the two principles of justice. A person in this conception of justice must make several judgments. The person must 1) judge the justice of legislation and social policies; 2) must judge constitutional arrangements for reconciling conflicting opinions of justice; and, 3) must decide when enactments of majority rule are to be complied with, and when they should be rejected.

After adopting the principles of justice in the original position, the parties progress to a constitutional convention. At this stage, “in addition to an understanding of the principles of social theory, they now know the relevant general facts about their society” (172).

This information is enough for them to choose an effective and just constitution that satisfies the principles of justice and will lead to just and effective legislation. To ensure that the constitutional procedure is just, “the liberties of equal citizenship must be incorporated into and protected by the constitution” (173). It is likely that several procedural arrangements will be both just and feasible, in which case, the participants should select “those which are most likely to lead to a just and effective legal order” (173).