A few words on the three evaluative properties of states. Generally speaking I use the terms 'justification' and 'legitimacy' in the way that A. John Simmons uses them in “Justification and Legitimacy”. When I speak of justification I usually refer to the justification of the state. In other words I mean that a type of, or several types of, states are rationally preferable to the state of nature, or situations in which individuals live together without a state. On the other hand, very generally speaking, a particular state is legitimate if it has certain characteristic rights over those ...