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The religious origins of the rule of law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2019

Peter J. Hill Open the ORCID record for Peter J. Hill [Opens in a new window]
Peter J. Hill*
Affiliation:
Department of Business and Economics, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA; Property and Environment Research Center, Bozeman, Montana, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: pj.hill@wheaton.edu
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Abstract

The background conditions for the emergence of the rule of law are important but underdeveloped. This paper discusses current theories of the origin of the rule of law, arguing that they are useful but incomplete. In addition to those theories, the Jewish and Christian concept of all human beings as God's image bearers is an important contributor to the rule of law in Western civilization. The formulation of universal human equality is not, however, a sufficient condition for the emergence of the rule of law. The concept has taken centuries of articulation in different institutions and social settings. It only reached full fruition when it was joined with an understanding of appropriate legal and political systems as expressed by political theorists such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Madison.

Keywords

Human dignityculture and institutional changeimpersonality in legal systemsrule of law
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , pp. 305 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2019

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