Title: Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom, One Hundred Schools Contend: Debating Rule of Law in China
Abstract: Historically, the modern conception of rule of law is integrally related to the rise of liberal democracy in the West. Indeed, for many, "the rule of law" means a liberal democratic version of rule of law. There is, however, little support for liberal democracy, and hence a liberal democratic rule of law, among state leaders, legal scholars, intellectuals or the general public in China. Accordingly, if we are to understand the likely path of development of China's system, and the reasons for differences in its institutions, rules, practices and outcomes in particular cases, we need to rethink rule of law. We need to theorize rule of law in ways that do not assume a Western liberal democratic framework, and explore alternative conceptions of rule of law that are consistent with China's own circumstances. To that end, I describe four competing thick conceptions of rule of law: Statist Socialism, Neo-Authoritarian, Communitarian and Liberal Democratic. In addition, I contrast all four variants of rule of law with rule by law, and suggest that China is in transition from rule by law to some version of rule of law, though probably not a Liberal Democratic one.
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 43
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