  The first formulation presented above follows from a consent-based account of political legitimacy. Contemporary Lockeans do not reject state action the promotes the good, so long as the state action in question enjoys the consent of the governed (Simmons 2005). Perfectionist political theory rejects consent theory and so rejects this formulation of the neutrality constraint. The second formulation appeals to societal consensus, rather than actual consent. It holds that in large pluralistic societies, the state should not aim to promote the good, since what is considered good often will be subject to controversy. This formulation of the constraint is not extensionally equivalent to the first one, since there can be a societal consensus that an institution or practice is good and ought to be supported by the state even when there is not universal agreement on the matter.