Justice
Justice is giving each person what is rightfully due, both in personal conduct and through the proper exercise of political power.
“Justice is the end of government,” Federalist No. 51 famously declares. Justice “is the end of civil society,” and “ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.”
Justice is therefore not merely one desirable feature of political life among many. It is a standard by which both individual conduct and political power should be judged.
A person can act unjustly toward another person. Government can also act unjustly in the exercise of political power, domestically or internationally.
There can be unjust governments and unjust laws; a government or law may possess legal force while still failing the moral standard of justice.
Personal Justice
Personal justice means giving other people what is rightfully due to them. This principle applies throughout ordinary human relationships.
A just person tells the truth about others rather than deliberately damaging their reputations with lies. He keeps promises, honors agreements and contracts, respects the property of others, and refrains from violating their natural rights.
Suppose, for example, that a person has earned a reputation for being honest and trustworthy. Deliberately spreading a false rumor that he is dishonest would be unjust because it deprives him of something rightfully his: the reputation his conduct has earned.
Justice therefore requires more than merely obeying written laws. Many acts of justice occur in relationships among family members, friends, neighbors, business partners, and strangers, far from courts or government officials.
Personal justice also makes cooperation possible.
Human beings depend heavily upon trust. We make promises, exchange property, enter contracts, lend money, form businesses, establish friendships, and cooperate in countless other ways because we expect other people to deal with us honestly and justly.
Where people routinely act unjustly toward one another, trust becomes difficult and cooperation becomes costly if not impossible.
Political Justice
Justice also provides a standard for judging government.
Political justice requires government to exercise rightful powers for rightful purposes—above all, protecting the equal natural rights of those it governs.
The American Founding connects political justice closely to natural rights, equality, consent, and the proper purpose of government.
If human beings possess equal natural rights, government cannot justly treat some citizens as though their lives, liberty, or property matter less than those of others. If legitimate political authority derives from consent, those in government cannot claim unlimited power merely because they hold public office.
Political justice therefore requires both rightful ends and rightful means.
A government may properly punish someone who has violated the rights of another, but punishment should follow lawful procedures that apply equally to all citizens. Government may protect property, enforce contracts, and provide courts for resolving disputes, but it should not itself become an instrument for arbitrary confiscation or favoritism.
Justice also sometimes requires restoring, as far as possible, someone who has suffered wrongful harm or loss.
This is one reason the rule of law matters. Political power should be governed by known laws rather than arbitrary commands, and those laws should provide equal protection for the rights of citizens.
Justice and Equal Rights
Natural human equality helps clarify what justice requires politically.
If every human being possesses the same natural rights, justice requires that government protect those rights equally.
Justice does not require that people possess equal talents, wealth, achievements, virtue, property, or outcomes. Human beings differ in countless ways.
But differences among people do not erase their equal claims to protection for their persons, liberty, and property. A government that protects one group’s rights while deliberately violating the same rights of another fails the standard of justice.
Equal protection for equal individual rights is justice; unequal protection based merely on group status is injustice.
Likewise, a political majority does not make an injustice just merely by voting for it. Political power remains subject to a moral standard beyond the preferences of whoever happens to possess the most votes.
Why Justice Matters
Justice is right in itself, and it also makes peaceful and cooperative human life possible.
Personal justice builds trust. People are more willing to cooperate when they believe others will tell the truth, honor promises, respect property, and refrain from violating their rights.
Political justice gives government moral legitimacy. Citizens have stronger reasons to respect a political order that exercises rightful powers for rightful purposes and protects their equal rights under law.
Justice also provides peaceful means for resolving disputes. Courts, laws, contracts, and other institutions allow conflicts to be settled without private violence.
Persistent injustice, by contrast, undermines trust and political legitimacy. Severe and repeated political injustice can produce civil discord, resistance, and ultimately revolution.
Justice therefore concerns both how human beings ought to treat one another and how political power ought to be exercised.
A just person gives others what is rightfully due to them. A just government protects the equal rights of those it governs and exercises political power toward rightful ends.
