Why might we think, with Rawls, that political power is always coercive power backed up by the government’s use of sanctions? Perhaps because of the conjunction of law and sanction. But that connection is not necessary. Some laws are not enforced by sanction (For instance, laws governing the obligations of officials, laws establishing powers, constitutional laws) Attempts to understand the laws in terms of the coercive commands of the sovereign are implausible. There does not seem to be a conceptual connection between states and coercion.