Public powers

Society disposes of a minimum of three types of control: (1) the market, as a spontaneous and anonymous control; (2) the state in a wider sense, as a political structure with the power to rule, and (3) (freely given) solidarity, a cooperation based upon affective relations. Put in simple terms, the market controls through money, but in areas such as science and culture it also uses reputation (‘prestige’); the state controls via the legal authority to coerce; and solidarity controls through corresponding expectations. Political legitimation is aware of all three of these types but has set its eye firmly on the second type of control, because it is to some extent the ultima ratio: when the market fails and solidarity is unreliable, society is, if it still wishes to govern itself, in need of the state.