Tempering Power and its Tensions

I offer this essay not as a “reply to my critics,” but as a contribution to a conversation about the rule of law to which they have richly contributed. After a brief outline of key features of Law’s Rule, it considers whether it is committed to a “thin” or “thick” concept of the rule of law. It then explores the ideas of arbitrary power, accountability, and recourse; and it addresses the question whether the rule of law’s concern is restricted to the exercise of governmental power. It concludes with consideration of a number of tensions that lie at the heart of the rule of law ideal.