Gerald J. Postema (University of North Carolina – Philosophy) has posted Tempering Power and its Tensions on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This essay is offered not as a ‘‘reply to my critics,’’(essays published in Law & Philosophy, 2024, vol 43, #6), but as a contribution to a conversation about the rule of law to which they have richly contributed. After a brief outline of key features of Law’s Rule, it considers whether it is committed to a ‘‘thin’’ or ‘‘thick’’ concept of the rule of law. It then explores the ideas of arbitrary power, accountability, and recourse; and it addresses the question whether the rule of law’s concern is restricted to the exercise of governmental power. It concludes with consideration of a number of tensions that lie at the heart of the rule of law ideal.
Highly recommended.