perspectives on the rule of law in a modern democracy

The nurturing presence of law within a state is, in a modern society, not open for debate. In fact, the absence of law or the lack of its enforcement has been considered as the main symptom of failed states. But the concept of ”rule of law” has evolved along with society, along with the principles that drive it. Thus, this concept hasn’t always been the same and will not be the same in the future. Whilst in the time before the French Revolution, the ”rule of law” meant the rule of an absolute head of state anointed by the divine, the people simply abiding by his will, after the French Revolution the concept changed, the state remained powerful, but under a collective rule. The road had been opened for the modern democracies. As the 19th century grew to a close, the modern state had been born in the Western democracies, a modern state which still held a tight grip on the individual. After the devastating effects of the First and the Second World Wars, the state was once again reformed, in a more subtle manner: its strength was reduced in favor of the individual who considered the collective interests of society to be inferior to his personal interests and needs: post-modernism was born, a thought-current which has had influence on all fields of human life, including the concept of ”rule of law”.