Punishment in a Just State

Political power is always coercive, and is none more so in domestic politics than the criminal law and its associated power to punish. If this power is to be used in a just way, it must be done in a manner that all members of society can accept. This paper is an attempt to work out some normative parameters for an acceptable theory of punishment by examining its institutional role in a just, liberal state. In doing so, this paper treats punishment theory as a topic in political philosophy, as opposed to moral philosophy. In this way, the account differs from most approaches to a theory of punishment, which are based on what we might call “personal morality.” In this paper, I focus on the role that punishment would play as an institutional part of a state governed by just rules and explore how the features of the institution could be justified to the citizens of the state in question.