Advertisement

Conceptualizing the Rule of Law

  • Rodolfo SarsfieldEmail author
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

With the rise of research on the rule of law during recent years, the meaning of that concept has become a subject of much debate. The lack of consensus becomes quickly noticeable when some of the existing concepts of the rule of law are examined. This chapter seeks to explore the different concepts of the rule of law – and its definitional prerequisites – present in the literature. This review is organized according to two competing accounts of conceptual analysis used in political science, hierarchical structures (e.g., Møller/Skaaning 2014), and radial categories (e.g., Collier/Mahon 1993). Hierarchical structures organize different definitions of a concept along a continuum from the thinner (or minimalist) definitions to the thicker (or maximalist) definitions, while the conceptual analysis of radial categories proposes the existence of a “primary category” (Collier/Mahon 1993) with different “diminished subtypes” of the concept (Collier/Levitsky 1997). Thick and thin conceptualizations “involve trade-offs between generality and specificity, quantity and quality, and absolutes and matters of degree” (Coppedge 2002: 1).

Keywords

Rule of law Rule by law Democracy Individual rights Equality Law 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Adcock, R.; Collier, D. (2001). “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research”, in: American Political Science Review, 95, 3: 529–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Adcock, R. (2005). “What is a Concept?”, in: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper Series, IPSA-CIDE, 1 (April).Google Scholar
  3. Barros, R. (1997). Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study (Cambridge: MIT Press).Google Scholar
  4. Barros, R. (2000). “Rule of Law, Democracy, and Economic Performance”, in: G.P. O’Driscoll Jr., K.R. Holmes, and Melanie Kirkpatrick, 2000 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington and New York: Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).Google Scholar
  5. Barros, R. (2003). “Dictatorship and the Rule of Law. Rules and Military Power in Pinochet´s Chile”, in: A. Przeworski and J.M. Maravall (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press): 188–219.Google Scholar
  6. Belton, R.K. (2005). “Competing Definitions of the Rule of law: Implications for Practitioners”, in: Carnegie Papers, 55 (January).Google Scholar
  7. Bingham, T. (2010). The Rule of Law (London: Allan Lane).Google Scholar
  8. Caldwell, B. (2004). Hayek’s Challenge: An Intellectual Biography (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press).Google Scholar
  9. Cameron, M. (2002). “Strengthening Checks and Balances: Democracy Defense and Promotion in the Americas”, Paper for a conference on The Inter-American Democratic Charter: Challenges and Opportunities, at the Liu Institute for the Study of Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, November: 12–13.Google Scholar
  10. Carothers, T. (1998). “The Rule of Law Revival”, in: Foreign Affairs, 77: 95–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Carothers, T. (2006). Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: In Search of Knowledge (Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).Google Scholar
  12. Collier, D.; Mahon, J.E. Jr. (1993). “Conceptual Stretching ‘Revisited’: Adapting Categories in Comparative Analysis”, in: American Political Science Review, 87 (December): 845–855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Collier, D.; Hidalgo, F.D.; Maciuceanu, A.O. (2007). “Essentially Contested Concept. Debate and Application”, Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper Series, IPSA-CIDE, 12 (January).Google Scholar
  14. Collier, D.; Levitsky, S. (1997). “Democracy with adjectives. Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research”, in: World Politics, 49, 3: 430–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Coppedge, M. (1999). “Thickening Thin Concepts and Theories: Combining Large N and Small in Comparative Politics”, in: Comparative Politics, 31, 4: 465–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Coppedge, M. (2002). “Thickening Thin Concepts: Issues in Large-N Data Generation”, at: https://www3.nd.edu/~mcoppedg/crd/CollMunckIII1.pdf.
  17. Chaihark, H. (2004). “Rule of Law in South Korea: Rhetoric and implementation”, in: R. Peeremboom (Ed.), Asian Discourses of Rule of Law (London: Routledge): 385–416.Google Scholar
  18. Chavez, R.B. (2004). The Rule of Law in Nascent Democracies: Judicial Politics in Argentina (Stanford: Stanford University Press).Google Scholar
  19. Chavez, R.B. (2008). “The Rule of Law and Courts in Democratizing Regimes”, in: K.E. Whittington; R.D. Kelemen; G.A. Caldeira (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (New York: Oxford University Press): 63–80.Google Scholar
  20. Dworkin, R. (1977). Taking Rights Seriously (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co).Google Scholar
  21. Dworkin, R. (1985). A Matter of Principle (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
  22. Dworkin, R. (1986). Law’s Empire (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
  23. Fallon, R. (1997). “‘The Rule of Law’ as a Concept in Constitutional Discourse”, in: Columbia Law Review, 97, 1: 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Ferejohn, J.; Pasquino, P. (2003). “Rule of Democracy and Rule of Law”, in: J. Maravall; A. Przeworski (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 242–260.Google Scholar
  25. Fiss, O. (1993). “The Right Degree of Independence”, in: I.P. Stotzky (Ed.), Transition to Democracy in Latin America: The Role of the Judiciary (Boulder, CO: Westview): 56–60.Google Scholar
  26. Friedmann, W. (1951). Law and Social Change in Contemporary Britain (London: Stevens & Sons, Ltd.).Google Scholar
  27. Fukuyama, F. (2010). “Transitions to the Rule of Law”, in: Journal of Democracy, 21, 1: 31–44.Google Scholar
  28. Fuller, L.L. (1964). The Morality of Law (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).Google Scholar
  29. Fuller, L.; Winston, K. (1981). The Principles of Social Order: selected essays of Lon L. Fuller (Durham, NC: Duke University Press).Google Scholar
  30. Gallie, W. (1956). “Essentially Contested Concepts”, in: Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 56: 167–198. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4544562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Gerring, J. (1997). “Ideology: A Definitional Analysis”, in: Political Research Quarterly, 50, 4: 957–994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Gloppen, S. (2003). “The Accountability Function of The Courts in Tanzania and Zambia”, in: Democratization, 10: 112–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Goertz, G. (2006). Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
  34. Guarnieri, C. (2003). “Courts as an Instrument of Horizontal Accountability. The Case of Latin Europe”, in: A. Przeworski; J.M. Maravall (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press): 223–241.Google Scholar
  35. Habermas, J. (1996). Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory on Law and Democracy (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).Google Scholar
  36. Haggard, S.; MacIntyre, A.; Tiede, L. (2008). “The Rule of Law and Economic Development”, in: Annual Review of Political Science, 11: 205–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Hahm Chaihark (2004). “Rule of Law in South Korea: Rhetoric and Implementation”, in: Randall Peeremboom (Ed.), Asian Discourses of Rule of Law. Rhetoric and Implementation of the Rule of Law in Twelve Asian Countries, France, and the US (London and New York: Routledge): 385–416.Google Scholar
  38. Hamara, Courtney T. (2013). “The Concept of the Rule of Law”, in: Flores, Imer B.; Himma, Kenneth E. (Eds.), Law, Liberty, and the Rule of Law (Dordrecht: Springer): 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Hampton, J. (1994). “Democracy and The Rule of Law”, in: Shapiro, I. (Ed.), The Rule of Law (New York: New York University): 36: 13–44.Google Scholar
  40. Hansson, G.; Olsson, O. (2006). Working Paper 200 (Göteborg: School of Economics, Göteborg University).Google Scholar
  41. Hayo, B.; Voigt, S. (2005). “Explaining de facto judicial independence”, Working Paper No. 200507 (Marburg: Philipps-Universität Marburg).Google Scholar
  42. Herron, E.S.; Randazzo, K.A. (2003). “The Relationship between Independence and Judicial Review in Post-Communist Countries”, in: Journal of Politics, 65: 422–438.Google Scholar
  43. Hoff, K.; Stiglitz, J. (2004). “After the Big Bang? Obstacles to the Emergence of Rule of Law in Post-Communist Societies”, in: American Economic Review, 94: 753–763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Holmes, S. (2003). “Lineages of the Rule of Law”, in: Przeworski, A.; Maravall, J.M. (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press): 19–61.Google Scholar
  45. Joireman, S.F. (2001). “Inherited Legal Systems and Effective Rule of Law: Africa and the Colonial Legacy”, in: Journal of Modern African Studies, 39: 571–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Joireman, S.F. (2004). “Colonization and the Rule of Law: Comparing the Effectiveness of Common Law and Civil Law Countries”, in: Constitutional Political Economy, 15: 315–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Kapiszewski, D.; Taylor, M.M. (2006). “Doing Courts Justice? Studying Judicial Politics in Latin America”. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Political Science Association, Philadelphia (August 31-September 3).Google Scholar
  48. Kavka, G. (1986). Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory (Princeton: Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
  49. Kelsen, H. (2009) [1967]. Pure Theory of Law (Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange Ltd).Google Scholar
  50. Lauth, H-J. (2001). “Rechtsstaat, Rechtssysteme und Demokratie”, in Becker, M.; Lauth, H-J.; Pickel, G. (Eds.), Rechtsstaat und Demokratie: Theoretische und empirische Studien zum Recht in der Demokratie (Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher): 21–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Lauth, H-J.; Sehring, J. (2009). “Putting Deficient Rechtsstaat on the Agenda: Reflections on Diminished Subtypes”, in: Comparative Sociology, 8, 2: 165–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Lovett, F. (2016). A Republic of Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
  53. Manin, B. (1997). The Principles of Representative Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
  54. Maravall, J.M.; Przeworski, A. (2003). “Introduction”, in: Przeworski, A.; Maraval, J.M. (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press): 1–16.Google Scholar
  55. Melone, A.P. (1996). “The Struggle for Judicial Independence and the Transition toward Democracy In Bulgaria”, in: Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 29: 231–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Méndez, J.E.; O’Donnell, G.; Pinheiro, S. (Eds.) (1999). The (Un)Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press).Google Scholar
  57. Merryman, J.H. (1985). The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America (Stanford: Stanford University Press).Google Scholar
  58. Møller, J.; Skaaning, S. (2010). On the Limited Interchangeability of Rules of Law Measures (Unpublished Manuscript).Google Scholar
  59. Møller, J.; Skaaning, S. (2012). “Systematizing Thin and Thick Conceptions of the Rule of Law”, in: The Justice System Journal, 33, 2: 136–153.Google Scholar
  60. Møller, J.; Skaaning, S. (2014). The Rule of Law: Definitions, Measures, Patterns and Causes (London: Palgrave Macmillan).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Mudde C.; Rovira, C. (2017). Populism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
  62. Munck, G.L.; Verkuilen, J. (2002). “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy. Evaluating Alternative Indices”, in: Comparative Political Studies, 35, 1: 5–34.Google Scholar
  63. Nonet, P.; Selznick, P. (1978). Law and Society in Transition: Toward Responsive Law (New York: Harper Torch Books).Google Scholar
  64. Nino, C. (1996). The Constitution of Deliberative Democracy (New Haven: Yale University Press).Google Scholar
  65. O’Donnell, Guillermo (1998). “Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies”, in:. Journal of Democracy, 9, 3: 112–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Orkeny, A.; Scheppele, K.L. (1999). “Rules of Law: the Complexity of Legality in Hungary”, in: Krygier, M; Czarnota, A. (Eds.), The Rule of Law after Communism: Problems and Prospects in East-Central Europe (Brookfield: Ashgate).Google Scholar
  67. Peerenboom, R.P. (2002). China’s Long March toward Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
  68. Peeremboom, Randall (2004). “Varieties of Rule of Law: An Introduction and Provisional Conclusion”, School of Law Research Paper Series (Los Angeles: University of California).Google Scholar
  69. Raz, J. (1979). The Authority of Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
  70. Reynolds, N.B. (1989). “Grounding the Rule of Law”, in: Ratio Juris, 2, 1: 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Ríos-Figueroa, J.; Staton, J. (2008). “Unpacking the Rule of Law. A Review of Judicial Independence Measures”, Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper Series, IPSA-CIDE, 21 (September).Google Scholar
  72. Rose-Ackerman, S. (2004). “Establishing the Rule of Law”, in: Rotberg, R. (Ed.), When States Fail: Causes and Consequences (Princeton: Princeton University Press): 183–221.Google Scholar
  73. Sánchez-Cuenca, I. (2003). “Power, Rules, and Compliance”, in: Przeworski, A.; Maravall, J.M. (Eds.), Democracy and the Rule of Law (New York: Cambridge University Press): 62–93.Google Scholar
  74. Sandholtz, W.; Taagepera, E. (2005). “Corruption, Culture, and Communism”, in: International Review of Sociology/Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 15, 1: 109–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Sarsfield, Rodolfo (2010). “The Mordida Game: How Institutions Incentivise Corruption”. Paper for the symposium on The Rule of Law: Concepts, Measures, and Theory, Georgia University State, Atlanta (June).Google Scholar
  76. Sartori, G. (1970). “Concept Misformation in Comparative Research”, in: American Political Science Review, 64 (December): 1033–1053.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. Sartori, G.; Riggs, F.; Teune, H. (1975). Tower of Babel: On the Definition and Analysis of Concepts in the Social Sciences (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh/International Studies Association.Google Scholar
  78. Sartori, G. (Ed.) (1984). Social Sciences Concepts: A Systematic Analysis (Beverly Hills: Sage).Google Scholar
  79. Schaffer, F.C. (1998). Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
  80. Schedler, A. (2004). “Arguing and Observing: Internal and External Critiques of Judicial Impartiality”, in: The Journal of Political Philosophy, 12, 3: 245–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Schedler, A.; Sarsfield, R. (2007). “Democrats with Adjectives: Linking Direct and Indirect Measures of Democratic Support”, in: European Journal of Political Research, 46: 637–659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  82. Schwartz, H. (1998). “Eastern Europe Constitutional Courts”, in: Journal of Democracy, 9, 4: 100–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Shapiro, M. (2008). “Law and Politics: The Problem of Boundaries”, in: Whittington, K.E.; Kelemen, R.D.; Caldeira, G.A. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (New York: Oxford University Press): 767–774.Google Scholar
  84. Skaaning, S-E. (2009). “Measuring the Rule of Law”, in: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper Series, IPSA-CIDE, 29 (April).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Skaaning, S-E. (2010). “Measuring the Rule of Law”, in: Political Research Quarterly, 63, 2: 449–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Sowell, T. (2007). A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles (New York: Basic Books).Google Scholar
  87. Sunstein, C.R. (1994). “Rules and Rulelessness”, in: Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics Working Paper No. 27 (Chicago: University of Chicago Law School).Google Scholar
  88. Tamanaha, B.Z. (2004). On the Rule of Law: History, Politics, and Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
  89. Tamanaha, B.Z. (2007). “A Concise Guide to the Rule of Law”, in: St. John’s University School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series, No. 07-0082.Google Scholar
  90. Ungar, M. (2002). Elusive Reform: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Latin America (Boulder: Lynne Rienner).Google Scholar
  91. Vile, M.J.C. (1967). Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers (Oxford: Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
  92. Waldron, J. (2002). “Is the Rule of Law an Essentially Contested Concept (in Florida)?”, in: Law & Philosophy, 21: 137–164.Google Scholar
  93. Waldron, J. (2016). “The Rule of Law”, in Zalta, Edward N. (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/rule-of-law/.
  94. Waluchow, W.J. (2007). A Common Law Theory of Judicial Review: The Living Tree (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
  95. Weyland, K. (2001). “Clarifying a Contested Concept – Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics”, in: Comparative Politics, 34, 1: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Autonomous University of QueretaroSantiago de QuerétaroMexico

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options