How might one evaluate the theory of the state I have presented? The implicit perspective from which the theory is developed is not a neutral one, since it is that of those interested in promoting a version of radical justice. The same theory could conceivably have emerged from some other perspective. But the first order of business in evaluating a theory is to see how it stands up within the project it was devised to serve. I shall suggest some of the ways my theory of the state – in which the state is the center of conflict between justice and the economy – facilitates the task of those promoting radical justice.

Nature of the state

It will be helpful to begin by drawing together all the different strands of my theory into a single formula. In the formula the features of justice and the reproduction of the economy will of course have a prominent place, but here it is imperative to emphasize that there are other important elements in my theory as well. In it the features of justice and reproduction are integrated with the institutions that are essential for realizing them, institutions that jointly make up the state as an institution. Moreover, all of these elements – justice, reproduction, and institutions – will be integrated within a materialist framework in which the pressures of various groups are important stimuli.