Who sustains the rule of law?
Nation & World Who sustains the rule of law? The question is a personal one for voters, scholar argues — or should be Christina Pazzanese Harvard Staff Writer February 19, 2025 4 min read Legal and political philosopher Jeremy Waldron.Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer The rule of law is often associated with the actions of government officials, prosecutors, and judges, but ordinary citizens also bear responsibility in upholding a society’s ethical and legal principles, says Jeremy Waldron, a professor at New York University School of Law. A “fragile” but also “valuable and practicable ideal, ” the rule of law imposes on the government a “moral requirement” to legislate respectfully and to enact laws in a way that guides the conduct of citizens, but also “respects the agency” of those affected by such laws, Waldron, a scholar of legal and political philosophy, argued during the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics’ annual Kissel Lecture in Ethics on Thursday. For ordinary citizens,...