Since its publication in 1965, Brian Barry's seminal work has occupied an important role in the revival of Anglo-American political philosophy. A number of ideas and terms in it have become part of the standard vocabulary, such as the distinction between "ideal-regarding" and "want-regarding" principles and the division of principles into aggregative and distributive. The book provided the first precise analysis of the concept of political values having trade-off relations and its analysis of the notion of the public interest has also been significant.

1. Evaluation 2. Language 3. Political Principles 4. Conservatism, Majoritarianism and Liberalism 5. Types of Social Decision Procedure 6. Justice and Fairness 7. Equality, Integration and Non-discrimination 8. Freedom and Natural Rights 9. Equity 10. The Conept of Interest 11. Other Aggregrative Concepts 12. Applications of ' the Public Interest' 13. Justifications of 'the Public Interest' 14. Constitutional Choice and the Public Interest (1) 15. Constitutional Choice and the Public Interest (2)