Introduction
Jeremy Waldron’s work spans a number of areas in legal, political, and moral philosophy. This entry will focus on his extensive work on the rule of law (henceforth, ROL). First, what is the ROL? It is, most basically, the idea that the law should rule, rather than individual people, and the related idea that the law should apply equally to all. This idea comes from Dicey (1915, 149–152), whose ideas provide a starting point for the ROL for Waldron and many others and generate the idea that laws should be universal and known to all (Waldron 1989, 81).
One way to think about the ROL is as a way of compensating for problems that arise from the law itself (Raz 2009, 224). But Waldron sees it rather as a way of solving dangers that can arise from the use of power more generally (Waldron 2008c, 11); he thinks it is better to say that we demand that power be constrained by requiring it to be exercised through legal form (Waldron 2008a, 78). Power exercised legally is to be...
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References
Dicey AV (1915) Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution. Liberty Classics, Indianapolis
Fuller LL (1969) The morality of law, revised 2nd edn. Yale University Press, New Haven
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Waldron J (1989) The rule of law in contemporary liberal theory. Ratio Jurisprudence 2(1):79–96
Waldron J (1994a) Vagueness in law and language: some philosophical issues. Calif Law Rev 82:509–540
Waldron J (1994b) Why law – efficacy, freedom, or fidelity? Law Philos 13(3):259–284
Waldron J (1999) The dignity of legislation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Waldron J (2001) Law and disagreement. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Waldron J (2002a) Is the rule of law an essentially contested concept (in Florida)? Law Philos 21:137–164
Waldron J (2002b) Legal and political philosophy. In: Coleman J, Shapiro S (eds) The Oxford handbook of jurisprudence and philosophy of law. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 352–381
Waldron J (2004a) The rule of law as a theater of debate. In: Burley J (ed) Dworkin and his critics. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, pp 319–336
Waldron J (2004b) Retroactive law: how dodgy was Duynhoven? Otago Law Review 10:631–654
Waldron J (2005) Torture and positive law: jurisprudence for the white house. Columbia Law Rev 105(6):1681–1750
Waldron J (2006) The rule of international law. Harv J Law Public Policy 30:15–30
Waldron J (2007) Legislation and the rule of law. Legisprudence 1:91–123
Waldron J (2008a) Hart and the principles of legality. In: Kramer M et al (eds) The legacy of H.L.A. Hart: legal, political, and moral philosophy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 67–84
Waldron J (2008b) Positivism and legality: Hart’s equivocal response to fuller. N Y Univ Law Rev 83:1135–1169
Waldron J (2008c) The concept and the rule of law. Georgia Law Rev 43(1):1–61
Waldron J (2011a) The rule of law and the importance of procedure. In: Fleming J (ed) Nomos 50: getting to the rule of law. NYU Press, New York, pp 3–31
Waldron J (2011b) Thoughtfulness and the rule of law. Br Acad Rev 18:1–11
Waldron J (2011c) Are sovereigns entitled to the benefit of the international rule of law? Eur J Int Law 22(2):315–343
Waldron J (2011d) Vagueness and the guidance of action. In: Marmor A, Soames S (eds) Philosophical foundations of language in the law. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 58–82
Waldron J (2011e) Planning for legality (review article on Scott Shapiro, legality). Mich Law Rev 109:883–902
Waldron J (2012a) How law protects dignity. Camb Law J 71(1):200–222
Waldron J (2012b) The rule of law and the measure of property. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Waldron J (2012c) Stare decisis and the rule of law: a layered approach. Mich Law Rev 111:1–31
Waldron J (2013a) Separation of powers in thought and practice. Boston College Law Rev 54(2):433–468
Waldron J (2013b) Jurisprudence for hedgehogs. NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 13–45. Available via SSRN. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290309. Accessed 24 Jan 2016
Waldron J (2014) Public rule of law. NYU School of Law, Public Law & Legal Theory Research Paper Series, Working Paper No. 14–41. Available via SSRN. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2480648. Accessed 24 Jan 2016
Waldron J (2015a) The rule of law in public law. In: Elliott M, Feldman D (eds) The Cambridge companion to public law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 56–72
Waldron J (2015b) How to do things with standards. In: Baxi U et al (eds) Law’s ethical, global and theoretical contexts: essays in honour of William twining. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 335–353
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Nye, H. (2017). Waldron, Jeremy: Rule of Law. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_26-1
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