So, what is the rule of law?

 Well, things have been busy.   I said I would have some notes on rule of law, and after redoing them several times (I find writing hard) here they are.

Context: I am suggesting that some political prolife groups are making choices that conflict with the rule of law, which may undercut any supposed gains made.

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The rule of law is not merely that there are laws, and that they are enforced. (I've seen this referred to as "rule by law".) Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union would qualify -- both had police, courts, lawyers, and at times forms of due process. Then and now it is not enough.

Generally, a legal system upholds the rule of law if it has certain characteristics.

• Equality: it holds every person or entity, including the state, equally accountable to the law.
• Effectiveness: it enacts, administers, and enforces the law fairly, accessibly, and efficently.
• Independence: it enforces the law through an independent judiciary.
• Justice: it protects human rights.

This requires processes and norms (formal and informal) that constitute a legal system that can be resilient, supple, and self-correcting.    

Experience shows that the rule of law is a critical part of establishing and maintaining: 

• stability and order,
• social and economic progress, and
• human dignity.

For all this to work, the people need to see the system as legitimate and choose to obey the law.  Americans historically have followed the law as well or better than any other nation.  That has been damaged recently, and may well get much worse.

Next: what is going wrong.