Why Democracy Needs Public Goods

Some public goods are best provided by means of public finance; others need private providers.

The approach to public goods does not imply a theory of fair taxation.

The second danger that lures on the horizon is the loss of diversity in terms of public goods. True, modern societies need patterns of association that differ from traditional societies. Political institutions are to some degree necessary to enforce quality standards. Yet, complete regulation and surveillance of public goods endangers creativity and civil commitment to public goods.

Public goods support the public as a realm in which equality is not only an abstract ideal but actually materializes.

the capacity of political communities to reinvent themselves can be expressed in terms of the engagement for public goods

public goods serve the generation of a public sphere.

basic right and of political self-determination on the one hand and public goods on the other

social justice and public goods

links between public goods regimes and concepts of the public sphere that are central to deliberative democracy

As goods that enhance conditions of social justice, public goods are central goods.