Full Idea
For liberals the basis of state legitimacy is a shared sense of justice, not a shared conception of the good.
Gist of Idea
Liberal state legitimacy is based on a belief in justice, not in some conception of the good life
Source
Will Kymlicka (Community [1993], 'legitimacy')
Book Reference
'A Companion to Contemporary Political Phil', ed/tr. Goodin,R.E/Pettit,Philip [Blackwell 1995], p.375
A Reaction
For a liberal state to work, the citizens have to roughly believe in the core values of liberalism, which are primarily freedom and equality (and hence justice).