| Article | Rule of Law, or the Dilemma of an Ethos: to be Gardened or Mechanized |
|---|---|
| Authors | Varga Cs. |
| Name of magazine | Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (English version) |
| Issue | 4 / 2013 |
| Pages | 54 - 65 |
| Annotation | Post-dictatorship models for transition can be either total defeat with military control, breaking past continuity through preventing local practices to re-organize while re-educating for democracy (as in post-WWII) or just declaring fully-fledged rule of law operating from now on (as in post-Communism). The practice may vary as to whether or not the Rule of Law is a set of expectations categorically absolute and exhaustively codified or just a respectable ideal, having developed in response to particular challenges somewhere under given historical conditions. It is an art of balancing amongst conflicting values within its ethos: to strive never to end because it is a learning process bringing new features to the surface as new challenges are met. Eventually, a choice has to be made between attitudes characteristic of a circus trainer and a gardener. The temptation to substitute past nihilism for a kind of fetishism is also to be confronted, for this may strengthen the dependence of target countries on pattern-following by weakening their self-responsibility, vitally needed for successful recovery. |
| Keywords | post-dictatorship models for transition, Rule of Law, ethos, constitutional adjudication. |
| References | |
| Electronic version | Download |