The role of development professionals: measurement and promotion

Paul Gowder

doi:10.1017/CBO9781316480182.010

Let us suppose that the rest of this book is to be believed. The rule of law is about equality, in the dual sense that its moral value is derived from its contribution to the equal standing of those subject to the law, and it will be maintainable for the long term only in states that actually have legal systems that treat their citizens as equals. This contrasts sharply with the conventional views of the rule of law according to which it is primarily about liberty (philosophers) or economic development (social scientists), and will be maintainable through Western-style constitutional and judicial institutions. The egalitarian theory of the rule of law represents an opportunity to open a new conversation about how policy makers and development specialists should understand the rule of law.That conversation, however, should be focused on empirical potential, not policy prescription. I am not an experienced development practitioner, nor do I have the local expertise necessary to propose concrete rule of law development initiatives in actual states. What I, with the aid of the egalitarian theory of the rule of law, can offer, however, is (a) a set of potential policy approaches that may be adapted to real-world contexts, but that should be implemented on a large scale only with the aid of local expertise and after being empirically validated – as well as a new kind of argument in support of those who have already advanced similar approaches, and (b) an approach to measuring the rule of law that can help in the task of empirical validation by giving us some way to test how policy interventions work on a state-by-state level, as well as test the theoretical claims often made about the side benefits of the rule of law, such as its usefulness for economic development.Rule of law developmentThe previous chapters suggest three general principles for rule of law promotion, which may be tested and empirically evaluated. I will call them persuasive commitment-building, generality development, and radical localism. The key idea underlying each is from the previous chapter: rule of law promotion will be more likely to succeed if the people in the communities in which policy makers are attempting to promote it can come to endorse and be committed to preserving their state's legal systems.

The role of development professionals: measurement and promotion

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