Democracy and the Rule of Law [Paperback]

Addresses why governments sometimes follow the law and other times choose to evade the law.This book addresses why governments sometimes follow the law and other times choose to evade the law. It interprets the rule of law as a strategic choice of actors with powerful interests, rather than as an exogenous constraint on politicians. The rule of law emerges when no one group is strong enough to dominate the others and when political actors seek to resolve their conflicts by recourse to law. Law is thus deeply rooted in politics. Conflicts between rule of majority and rule of law are simply conflicts in which actors use either votes or laws as their instruments of power.This book addresses why governments sometimes follow the law and other times choose to evade the law. It interprets the rule of law as a strategic choice of actors with powerful interests, rather than as an exogenous constraint on politicians. The rule of law emerges when no one group is strong enough to dominate the others and when political actors seek to resolve their conflicts by recourse to law. Law is thus deeply rooted in politics. Conflicts between rule of majority and rule of law are simply conflicts in which actors use either votes or laws as their instruments of power.An international group of specialists from the fields of law, politics, economics, and philosophy address the question of why governments act or do not act according to laws. The authors interpret the rule of law as a strategic choice of actors with powerful interests, rather than as an exogenous constraint on politicians. The rule of law emerges when no group is strong enough to dominate the others, and political actors seek to resolve their conflicts by recourse to law. Law is thus deeply rooted in politics.List of contributors; Acknowledgments; Introduction Jos? Mar?a Maravall and Adam Przeworski; Part I: 1. Lineages of the rule of law Stephen Holmes; 2. Power, rules, and compliance Ignacio S?nchez-Cuenca; 3. Obediencel#A