Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law

Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law is a collection of original research on the rule of law from a panel of leading economists, political scientists, legal scholars, sociologists and historians. The chapters critically analyze the meaning and foundations of the rule of law and its relationship to economic and democratic development, challenging many of the underlying assumptions guiding the burgeoning field of rule of law development. The combination of jurisprudential, quantitative, historical/comparative, and theoretical analyses seeks to chart a new course in scholarship on the rule of law: the volume as a whole takes seriously the role of law in pursuing global justice, while confronting the complexity of instituting the rule of law and delivering its promised benefits.

Written for scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers, Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law offers a unique combination of jurisprudential and empirical research that will be provocative and relevant to those who are attempting to understand and advance the rule of law globally. The chapters progress from broad questions regarding current rule of development efforts and the concept of rule of law to more specific issues pertaining to economic and democratic development. Specific countries, such as China, India, and seventeenth century England and the Netherlands, serve as case studies in some chapters, while broad global surveys feature in other chapters. Indeed, this impressive scope of research ushers in the next generation of scholarship in this area.

James J. Heckman shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2000. He is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation.

Robert L. Nelson is the Director of the American Bar Foundation, the MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession at the ABF, and professor of sociology and law at Northwestern University.

Lee Cabatingan is a Research Associate at the American Bar Foundation and a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.