In Justifying the State. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan. forthcomingThe question of whether the state can be justified remains a persistent and contested problem in political philosophy. That the state exercises political power is not in dispute; what raises concern is whether, and under what conditions, that power amounts to legitimate authority. In some cases, appeals have been made to the functions performed by the state, which include the provision of security, resolution of coordination problems, the protection of rights, dissemination of justice, and the identification and furtherance of the common good. These tasks have been used to explain why political institutions are valuable or even necessary. Nonetheless, they do not, in isolation, and without further argument, establish a right to rule. The question of state justification is therefore beyond what the state does. It concerns what, if anything, morally warrants the authority it claims.