In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

Lippmann contrasts two conceptions of government: an administrative state that manages citizens’ lives versus a liberal state whose primary task is to secure a framework of justice. The line implies that freedom is not merely the absence of tyranny but the presence of social arrangements in which individuals and voluntary associations can pursue their own ends. Government’s legitimacy, on this view, lies in impartial rule-setting and adjudication—protecting rights, enforcing contracts, and resolving disputes—rather than directing economic or personal “affairs.” The quote also reflects a classical-liberal anxiety that when the state becomes a manager, citizens become dependents, and politics turns into a struggle over control of administration rather than a shared commitment to fair rules.