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.

‘This ambitious book offers valuable new conceptual and empirical analysis of the rule of law and the understudied relationship between rule-of-law dynamics at the national and transnational levels. It is a timely contribution as we grapple with a global rule-of-law recession and contemporary manifestations of the age-old governance challenge of constraining arbitrary and destructive use of power.’

Betsy Andersen - Executive Director, World Justice Project

‘The rule of law is sometimes said to be like oxygen: easily taken for granted, but quickly noted in its absence. As this important new book shows, the forces eroding the rule of law may be more subtle than that. From dismissing election results to the normalization of cross-border aggression, the authors track the decline of the rule of law nationally and internationally - and what might be done to stop it.’

Simon Chesterman - David Marshall Professor of Law, National University of Singapore

‘The rule of law’s erosion has been increasingly observed in several countries across the globe, and its implications neither stop at continental borders, nor observe boundaries between different areas of state activity. This volume succeeds in providing the reader with meticulous analyses of the many facets of this phenomenon writ small and large. It is an absolute must for anyone who wishes to detect this erosion early on and look for ways to strengthen human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in the long term.’

Helen Keller - University of Zurich, Judge at the Constitutional Court of B&H

‘For centuries, the rule of law developed to reduce the arbitrary exercise of power. For the past two decades, it seems in retreat on a global scale. Shaffer and Sandholtz’s volume shows that the demise of the rule of law is not just widespread, it is fundamentally transnational. This book is a great read for connecting the dots of national authoritarian impulses.’

Beth Simmons - Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science and Business Ethics