Rule of Law Promotion and Development: A Search for Meaning

Abstract

This paper attempts to locate the core meaning of the notion 'rule of law' by examining the literature from Dicey through Hayek to modern law reform proposals directed to developing countries. The paper argues that conceptions of the rule of law found in pro-market reforms centre on the protection of private property rights and lead to proposals addressing particular institutions in ways that do not actually promote wider development goals. Modern reform projects demonstrate that the rule of law becomes confused or submerged within institutional reforms and efforts to promote it often do not stray beyond reforms of formal legal mechanisms. The paper concludes by arguing that as a result of various significant failings, many rule of law reform projects in developing countries tend to be characterised by a lack of understanding of the complexities of the relationship between law and economic activity and its connection to different political, social and institutional contexts.