• Whether national or sub national level constitutions provide essential rules for organizing collective and private decision making
• Constitutions derive legitimacy from - perception of their content provides order in a reasonable and fair way, the nature of their establishment, ease in which people can choose alternative politics
• There is social value in protecting legitimate constitutions from threats external to the polity.
• Thus policies that promote national security may be justified by a social value other than increasing efficiency through the provision of a public good
• Voluntary compliance reduces enforcement costs – encouraged by the perception of fairness
• The Perspective of institutional utilitarianism suggests that there is likely to be social value in preserving or strengthening important social institutions such as family.