The traditional British concept of the rule of law is

After the Middle Ages, western countries began to enter the stage of modern development. This is a brand-new era. Issues that used to be discussed are now open to the public. Let's talk about political thinkers' understanding of the rule of law.

The first is Locke of Britain, because he has played a particularly important role in determining the western political and legal thoughts since modern times. Locke's thought of rule of law includes two aspects: personal requirements and general principles. As far as personal requirements are concerned, Locke strongly advocates that the legislature, the highest organ of state power, "should be ruled by established laws announced by the government." The so-called general principle means: "No matter what form the country takes, the ruler should rule through formal and recognized laws, not through temporary orders and undecided resolutions." In addition to advocating that power must be exercised according to law, Locke also adheres to the principle of equality before the law. He said: "These laws treat the rich and the poor, the powerful and the cultivators equally, and are not different because of special circumstances." Locke mainly discussed what is government power and its limitations in the Theory of Government. At that time, the British political system did not have the characteristics of separation of powers. It is not so much the separation of powers as the coexistence of different powers, and it is also the coexistence of neither fish nor fowl. Locke's great contribution is that he summarized the chaotic political reality of multiple powers as the separation of three powers, thus making it reasonable in theory.

After Locke, Montesquieu of France also studied the rule of law. Compared with contemporary thinkers, Montesquieu is a veritable jurist. He shows a wealth of legal knowledge in his works. In his time, he was the most knowledgeable jurist, and he also put forward his own concept of jurisprudence. In fact, he not only put forward the broadest definition of law: law is an inevitable relationship arising from the nature of things, but also put forward his own way of understanding law, that is, understanding law from all aspects of social life. Montesquieu's exposition of the theory of decentralization and balance is systematic and influential. First of all, Montesquieu thinks that freedom is one of the important spirits of law, and law should embody and guarantee freedom as much as possible. In On the Spirit of Law, he emphasized the relationship between freedom and law, and explained that this relationship has been established in English law. Montesquieu believes that freedom or political freedom is "the right to do everything permitted by law". So, how can we achieve political freedom? Therefore, he discussed the relationship between legal freedom and ideological freedom, and thought that freedom can be divided into two kinds, one is philosophical freedom and the other is political freedom. According to his observation in Britain, he found that political freedom is not the result of people's pursuit of morality, but the product of well-organized political system. Second, unlike some abstract theories about the value of freedom, he realized that freedom is closely related to the political system. He brilliantly pointed out that "all people with power are prone to abuse their power, which is an eternal experience." Third, in his view, "to prevent abuse of power, power must be restricted by power." Because it is terrible that power is not bound, the constraint of law and people is far more direct and effective than the constraint between powers. Fourth, to protect political freedom, we must separate the three powers and perform their duties. No organ can absolutely override other organs and act arbitrarily, thus realizing the dynamic balance of government power.

Rousseau is another famous French thinker after Montesquieu. Rousseau is different from other contemporary thinkers in many aspects, but there are similarities, that is, he also clearly advocates the rule of law, and regards whether to implement the rule of law as the only symbol of * * * and political power. In On Social Contract, he said: "Any country that practices the rule of law, regardless of its administrative form, I call it * * * and the country." Rousseau's thought of rule of law generally includes two aspects, namely, legislation and law-abiding. As far as legislation is concerned, Rousseau particularly emphasizes the record of law itself, which takes "freedom and equality" as its two main goals. As far as law-abiding is concerned, in Rousseau's view, law-abiding is not a shame, but the pride of citizens. He argues that no one can get rid of the glorious bondage of law, which is not only a strict and pure restriction, but also a moderate and beneficial constraint, which is conducive to people's pursuit of good deeds. Rousseau yearns for the direct democracy of small countries and few people. Therefore, he strongly opposed the idea of decentralization, and believed that sovereignty was inseparable, and decentralization was the dismemberment of sovereign life.

From16th century to18th century, western enlightenment thinkers put forward the idea of rule of law in the process of exploring a proper social order, but they did not clearly define the concept and elements of rule of law. From the middle and late19th century, some scholars began to systematically discuss the concept, principles and elements of the rule of law. The rule of law they discussed is mainly a democratic form of rule of law. In practice, this rule of law has also become the dominant form in the period of western free capitalism.

/kloc-In the late 9th century, Albert Venn Dicey, a British jurist, put forward three principles of the rule of law in combination with his own constitutional government and practice of the rule of law. They are: "No one will be punished, and his person or property will not be infringed, unless he obviously violates the laws formulated by the general courts of the country in a customary and legal way"; "No one is above the law, and all people, regardless of their status, must obey the general laws of the country and the jurisdiction of the general courts"; "Individual rights are determined by specific cases accepted by ordinary courts". Compared with predecessors, his understanding seems to have some characteristics: first, his view of rule of law is a theoretical abstraction of British law at that time. Second, he no longer regards the rule of law as an ideal, but as a fact and a feature of the British political system. Third, his view of rule of law mainly includes the relationship between individual and law. Fourth, the principles of the British Constitution come from the judicial decisions of specific cases, thus highlighting the characteristics of British law that judges make laws. Albert Venn Dicey's concept of rule of law is a milestone in the transformation from concept to system. However, Albert Venn Dicey's view of the rule of law also has some limitations. First of all, his idea of rule of law is only based on the experience of Britain, and it is not universal; Secondly, although he emphasized the supremacy of law, he did not consider the possibility of "evil law" rule; Finally, the freedom he wants to protect is still negative freedom; His emphasis on equality before the law is still a form of equality that conceals actual inequality.

German scholars at the same time as Albert Venn Dicey also had ideas about the rule of law. After several generations of long-term efforts, they have contributed to the world a "country ruled by law"-the German expression of the English word "rule by law". Kant, the most famous philosopher in Germany, laid the foundation of the concept of a country ruled by law. There are three main points in Kant's political thought: (1) The state is closely related to the law. (2) The key to the close relationship between state and law is that they are all products of human reason. (3) The core of state-to-state relations is that the state must govern according to law, and the rulers of the state exercise power in accordance with the provisions of the law. After Kant, Humboldt, a German thinker, also discussed the relationship between state power and civil liberties. He insisted that the purpose of the state is not to actively create conditions for the happiness of citizens, on the contrary, the purpose of the state is to eliminate evil. Because these two thinkers rearranged the relationship between state power, law and freedom in theory, which laid a solid foundation for the development of the concept of rule of law later.