Development Is Rule of Law

In development theory one searches for a method to order the nations of the world into more or less developed. Higher degree of development is a macro property. In the dominant approach by M. Nussbaum (2011) development refers to micro capabilities. This is for the individual to promote in a country with rule of law.

arrive at two chief interpretations.
Although one may be sceptic to the claims WJP makes for the social benefits of rule of law, one can still employ their measures to draw a global map. Starting from the opaque nature of the meaning of "rule of law", the WJP considers the following manifest variables relevant:

1) Restraints on government
This criterion is vague. It sounds like separation of powers or judicial review. The opposite is dictatorship in some form.

2) Absence of corruption
Here we have a variable that relies much upon expert opinion. Corruption comes in several forms, which are difficult to measure. On the one hand, there is petty corruption in ill-ordered societies that may result in Pareto improvements. On the other hand, we have big scale corruption that is zero sum, benefiting different players or companies. Could the American system with PACs involve some form of corruption?

3) Open society
This is easier to establish, as open against closed society is a dichotomy.

4) Fundamental rights
A list of immunities often accompanies a written constitution. The crux of the matter is whether these rights or privileges are enforced fully or partially. This depends on the justice system in a country. Only common law or civil law legal traditions admits this possibility, not Koranic law or socialist law traditions.

5) Order and security
WJP here turns to variables that are conditions for or consequences of criteria 1)-4). Under 5) we have how the state protects private property, against theft or expropriation.

6) Regulatory enforcement
This variable 6) is close to 2) corruption, although there may be other causes of regulatory failure like anarchy.

7) Civil justice
The criterion here is the capacity of ordinary citizen to make their voices heard legally.

8) Criminal justice
Again this is more of the background of rule of law, namely the efficiency of the legal machinery as a whole.
Moreover, WJP has a ninth variable-informal justice. It taps how customary law operates.
Scores on each manifest variable between 0 and 1 are obtained by means of a questionnaire to laymen and experts.
It seems that the first 4 variables indicate what we mean by "rule of law". The others refer more to the functioning of the legal system in general. In dictatorships like the Gulf states, there is not much rule of law but the legal system is not broken.

Factor Analysis
Factor Analysis is, one may mention, a data analysis technique aimed at finding underlying dimensions in an observed data set. One identifies combinations of variables which are shared by a set of properties,  The finding is that we have two latent variables of equal strength, and together they account for almost 90 % of the variation.
Dimension 1 The first dimension comprises corruption, law enforcement and civil and criminal justice. Is that rule of law? Could a country score high on these properties but not so high on dimension 2?

Law and Order
The following countries score high on this measure: Singapore, UAE and Hungary. But these countries have hardly rule of law states.

Judicial Enforcement
Here again we find Singapore and the UAE besides South Korea, Czech Republic. However, these states are not well-known for high rule of law. It appears that dimension 1 is more measuring political stability than rule of law. It seems that the WJP contains 2 distinct dimensions of the state: efficiency of the legal machinery on the one hand and government constraints on the other. One sees this in the different scores for India and China. Rule by law is typical of China, whereas India has more of rule of law. Rule by law is a necessary condition for rule of law, but the opposite does not hold.

Dimension 2
The items loading on this variable2 comprise government constraints and fundamental rights. The countries that score high donot include Singapore or Eastern Europe. Instead it is Western Europe, North America and Oceania.
The WJP index adds the scores on the 8 elements of rule of law into one total score. I believe factor 2 should be given more weight than factor 1 in such a summary index. The prominent place given to Singapore and Hong Kong as well as the UAE seem more to reflect dimension 1, although Hong Kong autonomy is only history.  and Namibia as well as Rwanda. Hong Kong is also given a high grade by the WJP, but that must be in the past now. As a matter of fact, it was never a democracy, much like the UAE by 2020.

Mapping
Here we have a fascinating problem of explanation. Is it a matter of culture or institutions? Perhaps rule of law is path dependent meaning we have to examine historical developments?
The Scandinavian countries came out of the Great War as constitutional monarchies with parliamentary.
By allowing for unlimited right to vote for men and women, the path to constitutional democracy was easily secured. Finland followed a different path, presidential democracy after a civil war between "reds" and victorious "whites".
It may be added that from an historical point of view absolute monarchy did not last for any longer periods of time (Denmark longer than Sweden and Norway). Since the medieval times there were representative institutions for the estates of the realm (Riksdag) as well as general support and respect for the so-called Law, early codified. We find rules similar to the Magna Charta in Kings' Oaths. A possible strong institution against infractions law infractions is the Ombudsman Office, either as the Swedish model or the Danish model, to which ordinary people can complain over abuse by the authorities of the law.

Rule of Law Countries
Many people around the globe want rights and security under the law. More than 50 percent of the countries of the world have states that do not respect the precepts of rule of law. The concept of rule of law is somewhat ambitious in WJP. It stands for legal integrity (Kant) or rights and representation (Locke).
Globally, what stands out in these comparative scores is the following: 1) "Norden" scores exceptionally high; 2) The UK and the US have lower than expected rankings in the top.

Many countries have been left out, not only poorer countries. Thus, Switzerland is missing as well as
Iceland. There is no evidence showing that countries with constitutional review or federalism score top.

Development
Developing countries should move from autocracy or rule by law to rule of law. This is the best development strategy. When rights are secured, then wealth will come.
Development theory has vacillated between capitalism and socialism. However, socio-economic development will come when a country moves from autocracy to rule of law and then further to rule of law A majority of people live under dictatorship. The dictatorial regime comes in a bewildering variety that has not been compared systematically. Dictatorships are to be found in religious regimes as well as military ones. But here we find also semi democracy where government tends towards specific authoritarian measures (Russia). One party states often combine with plebiscites. However, the common core is the absence of rule of law.

Towards a Theory
There is no neat and tidy definition of the expression "rule of law". The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following entry: "[t]he authority and influence of law in society, especially when viewed as a constraint on individual and institutional behavior; (hence) the principle whereby all members of a society (including those in government) are considered equally subject to publicly disclosed legal codes and processes." Now, this sounds rather complicated as well as somewhat legalistic: how to measure it in order to compare states?
One may deconstruct this concept with other concepts or criteria like: 1) Strong legal formalism promoting equality under the laws; 2) Individual rights covering contract, free labour and property;

3)
Checks and balances, i.e., institutionalized mixed government with countervailing competences between executive, legislature and judiciary.
As a matter of fact, a dictatorship may satisfy the criteria 1) and 2)-at least partly. Thus, criterion 3) is pivotal.
It is worth pointing out that democracy is not mentioned in the project. Rule of law was conceptualized before the advent of democracy after the Great War. Rule of law as legality, rights and countervailing powers may be combined with democracy as popular rule, but it has not always been so. The following principles constitute the principal-agent approach to political leadership: a) Epicurean nature of human beings: men and women are basically selfish except in a small group.

b)
Public goods: each society needs a supply of public goods responding to the demands for law and order.
The assumption ( Rural of law institutions are neither bound to a western culture nor the same as decentralized capitalism.

Christian Heritage?
Christianity before the Reformation was based upon extreme hierarchy. It recognized Old and New Yet, rule of law does not figure prominently in any of the world religions. Locke went to natural law theory (Suarez, Grotius) for his inspiration about foundations. Revealed law does not comprise rule of law, neither with Jesus or Mohammed nor Buddha-whether they were historical persons or not.
The negative impact of religion appears in the numbers in Table 1 for Latin America, the Koranic civilisation as well as the Buddhist countries. For the post Soviet states it is not so much Christian Orthodoxy driving down numbers as the Communist legacy in combination with corruption. It has happened that a country can overcome the negative consequences of religion for rule of law, like in Japan and South Korea. Shintoism supported authoritarian rule, which also applies to the religions of South Asia and South East Asia.
Revealed law could only bolster limited and countervailing rule when united with the theory of natural law. Grotius declared in 1623 that natural law trumps revealed law, if different at all. If natural law implies rule of law, then we arrive at a secular approach to limited and countervailing powers. Yet, Grotius still supported monarchy. However, Locke managed the transition: God must respect the rule of law because he is Reason.

Conclusions
Take a quote from WJP: "Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small. It is the foundation for communities of justice, opportunity, and peace-underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights. Traditionally, the rule of law has been viewed as the domain of lawyers and judges.
But everyday issues of safety, rights, justice, and governance affect us all; everyone is a stakeholder in the rule of law." (WJP, 2020, p. 9) All this amounts to an exaggeration, if only Myanmar could enjoy some these benefit. Development is macro and capacity/capability is micro.