Contemporary Liberalism and The State: The Rawls - Nozick Debate

Abstract

Bourgeois society is defined by the market principle, private enterprise, exchange of commodities, price determination by the forces of demand and supply, etc. One major defining feature of liberalism is, as much as possible, the absence of state interference in the efficient functioning of the liberal market beyond the provision of infrastructure, maintenance of law and order, enforcement of contractual obligations, and similar non-market-related administrative responsibilities. However, certain inevitable fall-outs of the unrestricted operation of the bourgeois market have necessitated state intervention in various aspects of the liberal economy, particularly in moments of economic crises. This article is designed to explore the. various strands of the theoretical debate on the operations of the bourgeois free market vis-a-vis the responsibility of the state to ensure economic stability, growth, and development based on some distributive justice as articulated in the Rawls/Nozick debate.