What the rule of law means
Launch library · evergreen read
The rule of law is the idea that everyone, including those who govern, is bound by publicly known laws that are applied consistently, rather than by the changing wishes of whoever holds power at any given time. It stands in clear contrast to rule by decree or rule by personal favour.
For the rule of law to be real rather than nominal, several conditions usually need to hold together: laws must be clear and made public in advance, courts must be able to apply them without interference, and even government action must be reviewable against legal limits set out clearly well beforehand.
Citizens rarely notice the rule of law when it is working well, because its main effect is predictability, knowing that contracts will be enforced and disputes settled by evidence rather than influence. Its absence, by contrast, tends to be felt very quickly and very widely across an entire community, often within a matter of weeks.