Now the good of political life is a great political good. It is not a secular good specified by a comprehensive doctrine like those of Kant or Mill. You could characterize this political good as the good of free and equal citizens recognizing the duty of civility to one another: the duty to give citizens public reasons for one's political actions.

It is of first importance that the military be subordinate to civilian government

The idea of public reason isn't about the right answers to all these questions, but about the kinds of reasons that they ought to be answered by.

The claims of existing social arrangements and of self interest have been duly allowed for. We cannot at the end count them a second time because we do not like the result.

Ideally citizens are to think of themselves as if they were legislators and ask themselves what statutes, supported by what reasons satisfying the criterion of reciprocity, they would think is most reasonable to enact.

Ideally a just constitution would be a just procedure arranged to insure a just outcome.

You hear that liberalism lacks an idea of the common good, but I think that's a mistake.