Why the Growing Concern About Corruption?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Heimann ◽  
Mark Pieth
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Counterfeit Goods ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Different Parts

The need for action to combat corruption is paramount. Corruption undermines democratic institutions and the rule of law. This chapter describes the escalating public demand for action against corruption, including in China, Korea, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. Corruption hurts all parts of society but its most devastating effect is on the poor who are widely extorted by government officials to pay for public services that should be freely available such as admissions to clinics and schools, and access to water and electricity. Corrupt interests have taken over failed states in different parts of the world and utilize them as bases for illicit activities including drug trafficking, prostitution, and smuggling of counterfeit goods. Anticorruption programs started in the past quarter century have laid a solid basis for making progress. Perseverance and redoubled efforts are required. Failure to confront corruption would be totally irresponsible.

The Rule of Law: The New Leviathan?

1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olufemi Taiwo
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Global Level ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Ordering ◽  
Soviet Communism ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
The Ideal

These are the best of times for the Rule of Law. In all parts of the world, states, governments, and individuals, have found in the rule of law, at various times, a rallying cry, a principle of social ordering that promises the dawn of a just society that its supporters in Euro-American democracies claim to be its crowning glory, or a set of practices that is a sine qua non of a good society. The pursuit of the ideal is nothing new: after all, even those states where it was observed more often in its breach always paid lip service to it. And the defunct socialist countries of Eastern Europe, while they existed, could not escape its lure even as they sought to give it a different nomenclature—socialist legality. The movement towards the rule of law has accelerated after the collapse of Soviet communism and its foster progeny in different parts of the world. Given the present momentum towards the rule of law and the widespread enthusiasm with which it is being embraced and pursued at the global level, some would consider it somewhat churlish for anyone to inject any note of doubt or caution. This is more so when such a note emanates from Marxist quarters. But that is precisely what I wish to do in this essay. Although I do not intend to rain on the rule of law’s entire parade, I surely propose to rain on a segment of it: the Marxist float. I propose to look at the issue within the context of the Marxist politico-philosophical tradition.

scholarly journals Obama's National Security Exceptionalism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudha N. Setty
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Global Community ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The World ◽  
International Obligations

Published: Sudha Setty, Obama's National Security Exceptionalism, 91 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 91 (2016).This Article discusses how continued national security exceptionalism engenders a view of the United States as considering itself to be above international obligations to investigate and prosecute torturers and war criminals, and the view by the global community that the United States is willing to apply one standard for itself, and another for the rest of the world. Exceptionalism not only poses real challenges in terms of law, morality, and building useful relationships with allied nations, but acts as a step backward for the creation of enforceable international norms and standards, and in efforts to restore a balance in the rule of law when it comes to national security matters.

Risks of Lending and Liability of Lenders

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunibert Raffer
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
The United States ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Illegal Behavior ◽  
Domestic Debt ◽  
Careful Assessment

Risk and liability change the initially stipulated terms of contracts, overruling their otherwise binding nature. Risk encourages careful assessment of debtors' abilities to service debts. Errors and negligence in assessment, and even external shocks, make creditors suffer losses. Disregarding one's duty of care or professional standards, or engaging in tortious or illegal behavior makes actors liable to compensate for any resulting damage—a necessary systemic element of the framework markets need to function well. Neither mechanism was allowed to work properly in sovereign lending.This essay analyzes why risk and liability are necessary mechanisms of well-functioning markets, and discusses how risk can be handled. In the United States, inappropriate regulatory norms hindered providing against risk in the case of sovereign debt. The absence of liability—a market imperfection—has produced debts no decent legal system would recognize as legitimate domestic debt, thus aggravating the sovereign debt problem, and giving rise to concepts such as criminal, odious, and illegal debts. Discriminating sovereign debtors and disobeying the rule of law caused market distortions, resulting in not only grave damages to debtors, but also losses to creditors that the mechanisms risk and liability would have avoided. Finally, I briefly present proposals to repair these shortcomings in order to avoid the disasters of the past.

scholarly journals Introduction: Pluralism, Contestation, and the Rule of Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Cherry
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Indigenous Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Democratic Election

Around the world, the current political conjuncture is one of profound challenges for constitutionalism and the rule of law. In the United States, the executive has willfully engaged in a prolonged attempt to weaponize the machinery of the state and radicalize public opinion in order to undermine a democratic election. In the European Union, the increasingly authoritarian relationship between the executive and the judiciary in Poland and Hungary is posing the most profound threat to European constitutionalism in decades. In Hong Kong, the Chinese state is actively seeking to undermine legislative and judicial independence in the face of unprecedented pro-democracy mobilizations. In India, Lebanon, Bolivia, and elsewhere mass mobilizations are challenging, and being suppressed in the name of, the rule of law. Here in Canada, the Wet’suwet’en and their supporters, as well as the Tsleil Waututh, Haudenosaunee, L’nu (Mi’kmaq), Inuit, and members of countless other Indigenous nations are contesting the very nature of the rule of law, as they assert Indigenous laws against the law enforcement of the colonial state. Around the world, the use of emergency powers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is also raising profound constitutional concerns.

scholarly journals Alternative Approaches to Stabilizing International Markets

1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
W. Scott Steele
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Past ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Grain Prices

As a result of the recent world food situation, particularly the problem of repeated production shortfalls, the precipitous drawdown in grain stocks and the rapid increase in grain prices, widespread concern has developed over instability in food supplies and prices. Government officials and heads of international organizations have given considerable attention to stabilization measures, particularly grain reserves, as a means of offsetting fluctuating supplies and unstable prices of basic foodstuffs.For the United States, the problem of fluctuations in grain prices and unstable markets is not one of domestic origin. At recent levels of production, grain supplies have always exceeded domestic needs in the past two decades. Wheat is a good example. U.S. exports of wheat as a share of domestic production went from about 40 percent in 1970-71 to about 70 percent in 1972-73. In recent years, U.S. overseas markets have been the main source of instability in grain prices. Instead of reducing grain consumption or relying on their own grain reserves, many foreign countries experiencing shortfalls in grain production used the world and U.S. markets to purchase needed supplies.

COMMENTS ON THE REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON SOCIAL PROGRESS, CHAPTERS 9 AND 14: INEQUALITY, DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAW

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-469
Author(s):  
Alina Rocha Menocal
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Panel ◽  
The World

Over the past 30 years, the world has experienced a profound transformation, becoming both more open and more prosperous. Whereas in 1985 more than half of the countries worldwide were under authoritarian rule, most countries today are considered electoral democracies (Economist Intelligence Unit 2017). Since 1990, more than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty (World Bank 2016), while well-being indicators have improved dramatically on a global level, especially in terms of health and education (International Idea 2017).

Rule of Law in the United States. Stability is one of the World’s Most Valued Commodities

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-165
Author(s):  
Joshua W. Dansby
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Definition Of

Summary “The rule of law is like the notion of ‘the good’. Everyone is for the good, although we hold different ideas about what the good is.” 1 Two primary ways of viewing the Rule of Law have developed over the years: the “thick” theory of the Rule of Law advocates that, in addition to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated, participation in government decisions (democracy) and consistency with international human rights law are essential for the Rule of Law in a society; the “thin” theory of the Rule of Law asserts that democracy and consistency with human rights law, while nice, are not essential for the Rule of Law. While the Rule of Law is often talked about in the context of developing countries that are coming out of conflict, there is little talk about the Rule of Law and its application to countries such as the United States. The past two years have seen the Rule of Law in the United States threatened as it has never been before, with Senators refusing to do their constitutional duty, a President that threatens to disregard the rulings of the judiciary, and judges both politicizing and abdicating their role as the interpreters of the law. Using a definition of the “thin” theory of the Rule of Law formulated by Brian Tamanahan, I ultimately argue that it not only is, but should be the case that a product of the Rule of Law, stability, a combination of security and predictability, is one of the world’s most valued commodities; and that Rule of Law, rather than the Rule of Man, is and should always be the bedrock of the United States of America.

scholarly journals Theory of Freedom’s Zhuang Zhi: The Perspective of Limitation of Executive Power

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pham Quang Huy
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Western World ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Department Of State ◽  
Information Program ◽  
The World

On the basis of the presentation, analyzing the free doctrine of Zhuang Zhi, the author explains the origin and the rationale for this doctrine as well as the nature of Zhuang Zhi's free philosophy. At the same time, the author also refers to the philosophy of freedom with the doctrine of the rule of law, especially the content of executive limitation to freedom. Keywords: Theory of freedom, Zhuang Zhi, the rule of law. References: [1] Thu Giang, Nguyễn Duy Cần, Cái cười của thánh nhân của, NXB Thanh Niên, Hà Nội, 1999 trang 12.[2] Tư Mã Thiên, Phan Ngọc dịch, Sử Ký Tư¬ Mã Thiên, NXB Văn học, Hà Nội, 2001, trang 301.[3] Trang Tử, “Mộng hồ điệp”, dẫn theo Thu Giang Nguyễn Duy Cần, Sđd, trang 71.[4] Sử Ký Tư Mã Thiên, Sđd, trang 301.[5] Sử Ký Tư Mã Thiên, Sđd, trang 299.[6] Hồ Thích, Nguyễn Văn Dương dịch, Đại cương triết học sử Trung Quốc, NXB Thanh Niên, 1999, trang 105.[7] Thu Giang Nguyễn Duy Cần dịch Lão Tử Đạo Đức Kinh, Thanh Niên, 1999, trang 283.[8] Đại cương triết học sử Trung Quốc, sđd, tr 117.[9] Trang Tử Nam Hoa Kinh, sđd, tr 98 - 100.[10] Cao Xuân Huy, Triết học Phương Đông gợi những điểm nhìn tham chiếu, NXB Văn học, 1995 tr 494. [11] Nguyễn Đăng Dung, Sự hạn chế quyền lực nhà nước, NXB Đại học Quốc gia. 2005,[12] Lê Đình Chân, Luật Hiến pháp và các định chế chính trị, Đại học Luật khoa Sài Gòn, Sài Gòn, 1974, tr265.[13] J. Herbert Muller, Freedom in Western World: From the Dark Ages to the Rise of Democracy, Harper Colophon Books, New York, London, 1963, p275.[14] The Constitution of the United States of America with Explanatory Notes, adapted from The World Book Encyclopedia, International Information Program, Department of State of the U.S, 2004, pg73[15] Trang Tử Nam Hoa Kinh, sđd, tr 59., truy cập ngày 18/12/2018.

Law and/or/as Civility

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith J. Bybee
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Current State ◽  
The World ◽  
Traditional Patterns ◽  
State Of Affairs

The United States, like many countries around the world today, is experiencing the disruption of traditional patterns of governance and the breaking of norms of everyday behavior. If we identify the norms of governance with the rule of law, and if we consider the norms of everyday behavior to constitute civility, then we can approach the current state of affairs by asking how law and civility relate to one another. I survey and discuss three different understandings of the law/civility relationship: law and civility, law or civility, and law as civility. Each of these understandings is an analytical resource, and as such, each understanding captures a facet of a complex relationship and provides a way to think about our current age of unrest. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 17 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Corruption, Rule of Law and Democracy: Concepts, Boundaries and Oxymora

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
State Power ◽  
Limiting State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Empirical Level ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Common ◽  
Intense Debate

Despite heightened attention to corruption, multiple reform efforts, and democratization in the past few decades, corruption remains stubbornly per¬sistent throughout the world. Much of the research on corruption highlights an inverse relationship linking corruption to the rule of law and to democracy. But rather than concentrate on the relationships among these critical variables, this research note focuses its attention on the intense debates in the literature over how to define these key concepts and the competing definitions. Analysis differentiates thin and thick definitions of each of the three concepts, highlights their shared emphasis on limiting state power and their use of vague criteria to demarcate the conceptual boundaries. Amid intense debate, all three essentially ground their li¬mits on state power on rather vague notions of justice, equality, or the common or public good. The main argument here is that in many cases this results in a con¬ceptual overlap and blurred boundaries. Depending on the definition employed, corruption can be seen as conceptually embedded within the notion of the rule of law which, in turn, is encompassed within our understanding of democracy. At one level, these common conceptual components potentially fashion tautologies and oxymora, complicating questions about the theoretical relationships among them: is it even possible for a country to have high levels of corruption and strong rule of law? Or high levels of corruption and yet still be considered democratic? At an empirical level, the conceptual overlap complicates the examination of such theoretical linkages because of endogeneity potential. I illustrate this pro¬blem briefly by noting how in some cases the indices of democracy encompass measures of the rule of law or corruption, and vice versa. The essay concludes by highlighting how disaggregating the concepts raises other interesting questions and analytical challenges.

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