What makes some goods and services fundamentally public and why? Sometimes public entities are superior because of the quality of their decisions or the fairness of their decision-making procedures. At other times, they have intrinsic value. This volume explores the justifications for public provision and the justifications for state's authority.

Part I. On the Virtues of Public Provision (Agency-Based Approaches): Agency-Based Arguments Against Privatization; 1. The Wrong of Privatization: A Kantian Account Chiara Cordelli; 2. Privatization, Efficiency, and the Distribution of Economic Power Louis-Philippe Hodgson; 3. Public and Private Ownership in Plato and Aristotle Jonny Thakkar; Specific Arguments Against Privatization; 4. Privatizing Criminal Punishment: What Is at Stake? Malcolm Thorburn; 5. Justice and the Market Assaf Sharon and Shai Agmon; 6. Outsourcing Border Control: Public Agency and Action in Migration Ashwini Vasanthakumar; Objections to Agency-Based Approaches; 7. The Moral Neutrality of Privatization as Such Alexander Volokh; Part II. On the Virtues of Publicness as a Means to the Realization of Procedural Values (Process-Based Theories): 8. Privatizing Social Services Martha Minow; 9. Privatization, Constitutional Conservatism, and the Fate of the American Administrative State Jon D. Michaels; 10. Privatization and the Intimate Sphere Brenda Cossman; Part III. Outcome-Based Theories: On the Virtues and Vices of Public Provision as a Means to Promote Efficiency and Justice: 11. Privatization of Legal Institutions Talia Fisher; 12. On Privatizing Police, with Examples from Japan J. Mark Ramseyer; 13. Privatization of the Police Hans-Bernd Schäfer and Michael Fehling; 14. Privatizing Private Data Lisa Herzog; 15. Political Connections, Corruption, and Privatization: Who Gains from Privatization? Mariana Mota Prado; 16. Privatization of Regulation: Promises and Pitfalls Yael Kariv-Teitelbaum; 17. Privatization of Accounting Standard-Setting Israel Klein.