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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Why We Don’T Understand The Rule Of Law Or Explaining The Rule Of Law: A Practice In Search Of A Theory, Noel B. Reynolds
Why We Don’T Understand The Rule Of Law Or Explaining The Rule Of Law: A Practice In Search Of A Theory, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This lecture summarizes the main attempts to formulate an understanding of rule of law among legal theorists and explains why they fail to account for the real experience of law. It also explains key characteristics of law that need to be recognized in an adequate account of the rule of law.
The Rule Of Law: A Reassessment For The Twenty-First Century, Noel B. Reynolds
The Rule Of Law: A Reassessment For The Twenty-First Century, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This brief radio address attempts to explain the origins of American liberty and to assess its health at the beginning of the 21st century. The notion of rule of law and the emerging science of constitutionalism enabled America’s founding generation to establish a system of political liberty that continues to stand as a model for all human societies to pursue.
Thomas Hobbes's "A Discourse Of Laws", Noel B. Reynolds
Thomas Hobbes's "A Discourse Of Laws", Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
The recent discovery that an anonymously published 1620 essay was an early writing of Thomas Hobbes invites investigation of his early thinking. Hobbes relied on mostly classical sources to advance a basically conventionalist theory of law and to anticipate twentieth century analyses of the principles of rule of law such as that made famous by F. A. Hayek.
Morality And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds
Morality And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper lays out the logic of a conservative view of liberty and morality based on an understanding of human nature as both social and rational on the one hand, and radically individual and self-seeking on the other. Without public virtue, a people cannot govern itself as a free people. But neither virtue nor moral truth can be legislated. The rule of law under constitutionalism is the most successful human arrangement for providing freedom and allowing moral action on the part of individuals.
Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds
Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
Constitutionalism is the practical science of designing and balancing institutions of public power and authority so as to prevent monopolies of power or the emergence of tyranny. In spite of continuing attempts to ground constitutions in moralistic political theories, they are best understood as formalizations of citizenry agreements to manage their affairs under the rule of law following rules formulated by their legislatures and applied by their judges, all of which are to be selected through established procedures. The emergence of rule of law in primitive societies and in early modern European politics is noted, and the chief contributors to …
The Union Of Legal And Political Theory, Noel B. Reynolds
The Union Of Legal And Political Theory, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper explores the social science concept of conventions as a way of understanding law that would bridge the enduring gap between natural law and legal positivist legal theories. It further finds in the conventionalist approach a promising account of the rule of law—both in how it may be characterized and in how it can be assessed in particular legal systems.
The Doctrine Of The Rule Of Law In The Twentieth Century, Noel B. Reynolds
The Doctrine Of The Rule Of Law In The Twentieth Century, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
The concept of rule of law has been recognized repeatedly in twentieth century political and philosophical discussion, but with a constantly shifting meaning. In this paper we document most of the serious contributions to thought about rule of law before 1985 as a background to further work on the topic.
The Challenge Of Socialist Thought, Noel B. Reynolds
The Challenge Of Socialist Thought, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This presentation points to socialists’ mistaken assumptions of a malleable and perfectible human nature as an insuperable reason for the inevitable failure of socialist systems. It also points to socialist and liberal dependence on declarations of human rights as ineffective protections for human freedom—protections which can only be maintained in constitutionalist systems with deeper structural safeguards against tyranny.