Why the "Haves" Come out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change

(1981). Justice in many Rooms: Courts, Private Ordering, and Indigenous Law. The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law: Vol. 13, No. 19, pp. 1-47.

Justice in many Rooms: Courts, Private Ordering, and Indigenous Law

https://www.faculty.idc.ac.il/licht/CR.pdf

Culture rules: The foundations of the rule of law and other norms of governance

The rule of law is among the essential pillars upon which any highquality democracy rests. But this kind of democracy requires not simply a rule of law in the minimal, historical sense that I will shortly explain. What is needed, rather, is a truly democratic rule of law that ensures political rights, civil liberties, and mechanisms of accountability which in turn affirm the political equality of all citizens and constrain potential abuses of state power. Seen thus, the rule of law works intimately with other dimensions of the quality of democracy. Without a vigorous rule of law, defended by an independent judiciary, rights are not safe and the equality and dignity of all citizens are at risk. Only under a democratic rule of law will the various agencies of electoral, societal, and horizontal accountability function effectively, without obstruction and intimidation from powerful state actors. And only when the rule of law bolsters these democratic dimensions of rights, equality, and accountability will the responsiveness of government to the interests and needs of the greatest number of citizens be achieved. Although in some of my previous writings readers may find partial attempts at the theoretical and normative justification of a democratic rule of law, here I make only passing reference to these matters. My intention is to contribute to a discussion concerning if and how something called the rule of law, or the democratic rule of law, may be conceptualized and, insofar as possible, empirically gauged. To this Guillermo O’Donnell is Helen Kellogg Professor of Government and International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. This essay combines new material with a reorganized version of some of the author’s other writings on this subject, especially The Quality of Democracy: Theory and Applications (2004) and “Polyarchies and the (Un)Rule of Law in Latin America” in Juan Mendez, Guillermo O’Donnell, and Paul Sergio Pinheiro, eds., The Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America (1999), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Why the Rule of Law Matters

Introduction: the republic, old and new 1. Freedom as non-domination 2. Social justice 3. Political legitimacy 4. Democratic influence 5. Democratic control Conclusion: the argument, in summary.

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R. David Broiles

Papers

The Morality of Law.