The Rule of Law under Challenge: The Enmeshment of National and International Trends

Authors

Gregory Shaffer, Georgetown University Law CenterFollow
Wayne Sandholtz, University of Southern California - School of International Relations; University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

The goal of the rule of law is to protect individuals from the arbitrary exercise of power. Democracy and human rights depend on the rule of law. But today the rule of law is under growing threat in the United States and around the world. Trends regarding rule-of-law protections are transnational in scope. They involve shifting norms, institutions, and practices at the local, national, and international levels. This paper assesses how challenges are taking place at the international and national levels, and how these challenges are linked. It examines the ways in which international law and institutions are important for rule-of-law ends, as well as their pathologies, since power also is exercised beyond the state in an interconnected world. Sustaining the rule of law is a never-ending struggle, one that current challenges make particularly daunting.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Shaffer, Gregory and Sandholtz, Wayne, "The Rule of Law under Challenge: The Enmeshment of National and International Trends" (2023). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2551.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2551