The Rule of Law under Pressure
A Transnational Challenge

A contemporary assessment of the rule of law with a rich theoretical grounding and analyses of national and transnational developments.

Gregory Shaffer (Edited by), Wayne Sandholtz (Edited by)

9781009460248, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 January 2025

550 pages
23.5 x 16 x 3.5 cm, 0.896 kg

'For centuries, the rule of law developed to reduce the arbitrary exercise of power. For the past two decades, it seems in retreat on a global scale. Shaffer and Sandholtz's volume shows that the demise of the rule of law is not just widespread, it is fundamentally transnational. This book is a great read for connecting the dots of national authoritarian impulses.' Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science and Business Ethics

The Rule of Law Under Pressure provides readers with an accessible and richly detailed assessment of recent challenges to the rule of law. The rule of law is closely tied to both democracy and human rights. The erosion of the rule of law, within a rising number of countries and in international relations, places populations under increasingly authoritarian and rights-abusing governments and threatens to destabilize peaceful relations among states. The book brings conceptual clarity to this complex and multidimensional topic and assesses recent trends in the rule of law at both national and international levels. The opening chapter clearly sets out the key concepts and evaluates broad transnational trends in the rule of law. Succeeding chapters assess rule of law developments at the international level and within key countries around the world. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Part I. Introduction: Concepts and Empirics: 1. The rule of law under pressure: the enmeshment of national and international trends Gregory Shaffer and Wayne Sandholtz
2. Why sovereigns are entitled to (horizontal) benefits of the international rule of law Brian Z. Tamanaha
3. Rule-of-law backsliding: where, how, and why Ana Mari´A Montoya and Alejandro Ponce
Part II. International Organizations and Transnational Legal Ordering of the Rule of Law: 4. International organizations as constitution-shapers: promoting or undermining a transnational rule of law Anne Peters
5. International measures to support the rule of law Tom Ginsburg and Christoph Schoppe
6. Transnational legal order through rule of law appraising the United Nations security council, 1990–2022 Jeremy Farrall and Terence C. Halliday
Part III. National Case Studies in Transnational Context: 7. The rule of law writ large: the European union and its rogue member states Kim Lane Scheppele
8. Russia, the council of Europe, and the rule of law: building and dismantling 'our common European home' Jeffrey Kahn
9. Authoritarian rule by law: Erdoğan and the European court of human rights Dilek Kurban
10. The rule-of-law crisis as a testing ground for Latin American constitutionalism: a view from Mexico under Lopez Obrador Francisca Pou Gime´Nez
11. The challenge to the rule of law and democracy in contemporary west and central Africa Olabisi D. Akinkugbe
12. The criminalization of dissent: challenges to the rule of law in Thailand Tyrell Haberkorn
13. The evolving rule of law with Chinese characteristics and its impacts on the international legal order J I Li
Part IV. Conclusion: 14. Pressures old and new Martin Krygier
Index.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB]