Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Law
People
Chinese Legalism
Law is simply the codification of whatever the ruler dictated Laws are meant to reflect the interests of the ruler alone and are not a consensus of the moral rules governing the community as a whole Rule by law
Medieval Europe
Period from the fifth-century collapse of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance of the 15th & 16th centuries The Feudal System
Local lords or powerful bishops were in effective control of their respective manorial or church courts Calcified social order: nobility, clergy, and serfs
No unified court system Thomas Aquinas: The sovereign is exempt from the law
King
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Medieval Europe
The authority and legitimacy of rulers rested on their ability to impartially enforce laws not necessarily of their own making royal courts v. seigneurial courts
England France
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Excommunication
Deposed or beheaded
Instrumental view of law: divine, natural, and customary law gradually lost their authority over positive law, i.e., the state Rise of absolutist monarchies
King
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Liberalism
The rule of law today is widely understood in liberal terms Legal liberty Personal liberty Equality Neutrality All these mirrored the interests of the bourgeoisie
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20
John Locke
Government is based on consent Legislation should be established by majority vote Primacy of property rights
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Montesquieu
Separation of powers Independent judiciary Legal liberty
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United States
Representative Democracy
Judicial Review
Laissez faire
Federal Government
25 26
Unwritten Constitution
English Monarchy
28
30
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United States
Representative Democracy Social Welfare State
Judicial Review
Federal Government
31 32
China
Legalism
Territorial Barons
Strong State
State
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Unorganized Brahmin class (clergy) Varnas: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), Sudras (everyone else) Jatis: subdivision of all the varnas
Kshatriyas
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Active international regulation of commercial affairs Establishment of international and regional tribunals domestic courts also enforce agreements
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2011: riches 1% control 43% of the worlds assets; richest 10% have 83%; bottom 50% have only 2% U.S. defiance of international law
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Primary References
BRIAN TAMANAHA, ON THE RULE OF LAW: HISTORY, POLITICS, THEORY (2005) FRANCIS FUKUYAMA, THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER (2012)
PACIFICO AGABIN, MESTIZO: THE STORY OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGAL SYSTEM (2011)
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