The Rule of Law under Pressure

The Rule of Law under Pressure provides readers with an accessible and richly detailed assessment of recent challenges to the rule of law. The rule of law is closely tied to both democracy and human rights. The erosion of the rule of law, within a rising number of countries and in international relations, places populations under increasingly authoritarian and rights-abusing governments and threatens to destabilize peaceful relations among states. The book brings conceptual clarity to this complex and multidimensional topic and assesses recent trends in the rule of law at both national and international levels. The opening chapter clearly sets out the key concepts and evaluates broad transnational trends in the rule of law. Succeeding chapters assess rule-of-law developments at the international level and within key countries around the world. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Gregory Shaffer is the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center and a former president of the American Society of International Law. The award-winning author of Emerging Powers and The World Trade System, Shaffer is the author of eleven books.

Wayne Sandholtz is a political scientist specializing in international law, international courts, and human rights. Since 2012 he has held the John A. McCone Chair in International Relations at the University of Southern California. His most recent books include Prohibiting Plunder: How Norms Change (2007) and Research Handbook on the Politics of International Law (2017, coeditor).