Law’s Dominion: Mutual Accountability and the Rule of Law

Abstract

This essay explores the rule of law ideal as a mode of ordering and governance based on mutual accountability. It begins with the core idea that the rule of law provides protection and recourse against the arbitrary exercise of power. To comply with this aim, the author defends that the rule of law no only demands formal and institutional requirements (legality), but also presupposes a kind of interdependence and partnership between government and citizens (fidelity). This social ethos is expressed in a set of reciprocal commitments, among which the first one is the mutual responsibility for holding each other accountable under the common law. The author expounds this thesis, called “the fidelity thesis”, in two parts. First, to be subject to the law is necessarily to be accountable to others; and second, the rule of law is a public good which can only be achieved through cooperation.