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Article about the rule of man:
Rule of Law | The Millennial Star
Rule of Man vs. Rule of Law. In this post, I don’t want to draw any conclusions or argue in favor of any political party, ideal, or platform.
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I don’t want to take sides philosophically. Rather, I
Rule of Man vs. Rule of Law. In this post, I don’t want to draw any conclusions or argue in favor of any political party, ideal, or platform. I don’t want to take sides philosophically. Rather, I just want to draw some clarifying distinctions in terminology. In other words, I want to invite us all to be a little more precise in the way we use some terms, so that we can avoid confusion and make better arguments. In the words of a friend, I hope that this article will help us all to disagree with each other a little more accurately. The phrase “the rule of law” gets thrown around a lot, and I don’t think all of us are using the phrase in the same way. Many of us use the phrase quite differently than it has been used in philosophical circles. In the history of the world, political authority has generally been the rule of the strong over the weak. Those who are politically powerful can exercise dominion over those who are less powerful. People have consistently abused the coercive force of government to their own advantage. Kings, potentates, and legislatures have generally been unrestrained in their use of force against their fellow beings. This has generally been termed in philosophical circles as “the rule of man.” In response to this problem, philosophers began to conceptualize the possibility that legislators, kings, and potentates are restrained in some way by a higher set of rules. This higher set of rules was called the law , and when a legislator is restrained by these rules, this was referred to as the rule of law. Let me set up some preliminary definitions: Law: A rule that governs the actions of a legislator. Legislator: Someone who can enact, repeal, or amend statutes. Statute: A rule, regulation, or policy enacted by a legislator. These definitions may seem contrary to the way we generally use the terms, but bear with me a moment here. Here’s a diagram of what this looks like: As we can see, under the rule of law, the top of the pyramid is not a person or a group of persons, but law. To be clear, under the rule of law, the law is not an enactment of a legislator or any political authority. In general, these higher rules (the law) cannot be altered, amended, or repealed by a legislator. The legislator cannot override them. The idea is that the rule of law provides a much more stable form of government, because the power of the legislator is limited by law, and factions competing for power in the government can only advance their interests in the way the law allows. There have been constant debates about what constitutes the law that restrains legislators. I will only present two perspectives here, but there are many perspectives and many nuanced variations on what constitutes the “higher law.” Natural Law: Cicero and subsequent natural law philosophers argue that natural law (a system of truth discovered through reason and binding upon everyone) is the law that restrains legislators. John Locke believed in this kind of natural law. He argued that there are certain rights each individual has (which can be documented using reason), and that legislators are bound by this natural law. This natural law is not something that can be altered, legislated away, or amended by any political authority. It was not written by man at all. And thus, it is not subject to the whims of man, but is a stable, constant, reliable source of order. The role of the legislator, under this view, is to enact the details not prescribed by natural law. For example, the natural law forbids theft, but does not say how long a man should be incarcerated for robbery. The legislator may enact, amend, or repeal the statute the dictates how theft is to be punished or prosecuted. However, the legislator cannot amend, alter, or repeal the law against theft. The law (as opposed to the statute) narrows what the legislator may do. In addition, the legislator can never initiate theft in the name of the law. The law applies to everyone equally, regardless of their office. Constitution: There is also the perspective that the constitution is a law that constrains the legislator.
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