By Robert Moskowitz
Published: 8 December 2011
In other parts of the world, participants in mass demonstrations for social justice are often met with violent, firearm-laden opposition. Here in the U.S., demonstrators – most notably the “Occupy Wall Street” movement – receive only the occasional pepper spray (so far). As a result, many Americans proudly feel that –while we’re not perfect — we’re doing a pretty good job of upholding the rule of law.
Until recently, that kind of anecdotal evidence were pretty much the only available bases for making judgments about where in the world justice can be obtained and where it can’t. Now, however, the World Justice Project (WFP) is starting to provide far more objective evidence about this all-important element of modern civilized life.
Backed by the Neukom Family Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, LexisNexis and law firms such as Sullivan & Cromwell, White & Case and Fulbright & Jaworski, the WJP has mounted a massive, establishmentarian, quasi-scientific survey attempting to nail down exactly how closely individual nations adhere to the rule of law. This survey is aptly known as the Rule of Law Index (Index).
WJP representatives have devoted more than four years to developing, testing and vetting measures of lawfulness based on principles that are internationally accepted, even within countries having vastly different social, cultural, economic and political systems.
Within the 2011 version of the Index exists 52 factors that support four primary aspects of the rule of law:
1) The government, its officials, and its agents are accountable for their actions;
2) Clear, publicized, stable and fair laws protect fundamental rights, personal security and property;
3) Laws are enacted, administered and enforced through accessible, fair and efficient processes; and
4) The legal system is manned by competent, independent, and ethical people in large enough numbers who reflect their community’s demographics and who have adequate resources to do their jobs effectively.
Unlike other Indices, the WJP does not rely on aggregated data from third party sources, on self-reported data from governments or on information from other vested interests. To date, WJP has investigated adherence to the rule of law by surveying more than 66,000 ordinary citizens around the globe living in nations that contain more than half the world’s population. WJP researchers also by elicited in-depth analyses and opinions from more than 2,000 legal practitioners and academics with expertise in civil and commercial law, criminal justice, labor law and public health. Because of these unique and original data-gathering procedures, the WJP assess each nation’s adherence to the rule of law in practice rather than in theory.
The resulting WJP Rule of Law Index enables anyone to comprehensively assess a nation’s law-related practices, identify its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other countries and — as annual reports continue to be published — track changes over time.
So how does the U.S. fare on the newest Rule of Law Index? OK, I guess, but with plenty of room for improvement. Here’s a quick run-down of our nation’s scores (with a score of 1.0 being best):
Factor 1 – Limited Government Powers
This includes such measures as well-defined government powers, legislative and judicial restraints on government powers, penalties for official misconduct and orderly transfers of power.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.73, only 16th among the 66 nations most recently evaluated by WJP, only 10th out of the 12 nations in our region, and only 16th out of the 23 nations with levels of wealth and economic development similar to ours.
Factor 2 – Absence of Corruption
This factor primarily measures to what extent public officials use their office and powers for private gain.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.78 on this scale, only 17th in the world, again only 10th out of the 12 nations in our region, and only 17th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development.
Factor 3 – Order and Security
This factor measures the amount of violence in everyday life, including individual use of violence to redress grievances, as well as the general extent of civil and criminal lawlessness.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.86, which is a higher raw score than we earned on the previous two factors, but not much better in rank. We’re only 13th in the world on this score, although we’re 6th out of the 12 nations in our region, and 12th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development.
Factor 4 – Fundamental Rights
Here WJP attempts to measure various types of discrimination, due process of law, freedom of expression and religion and public assembly, the right to privacy, and labor rights.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.73 on these measures, which puts us an unexpected 19th in the world, 11th out of the 12 nations in our region, and 18th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development.
Factor 5 – Open Government
This Factor measures the degree to which laws and government operations are well publicized and easily understood, with relatively stable laws and ample opportunities for public participation in any political or legal changes.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.72, which seems a little low, but puts us 12th in the world, 8th out of the 12 nations in our region, and 12th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development. This may be our highest score of all eight Factors.
Factor 6 – Effective Regulatory Enforcement
This is intended as a measure of the impartiality of government operations, including speedy and fair due process, and restraints on unfair “takings” of private property.
Here the U.S. earned a ranking of 0.70, only 15th in the world, 9th out of the 12 nations in our region, and only 15th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development.
Factor 7 – Access to Civil Justice
This measures the availability and affordability of legal remedies, the lack of delays, discrimination and corruption in meting out justice, and related matters.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.63, a dismal 21st in the world, 11th out of the 12 nations in our region, and 20th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development. In some respects, this is our poorest showing within the Index.
Factor 8 – Effective Criminal Justice
This measures the effective investigation and timely adjudication of crimes, the correctional system’s effectiveness in reducing crime, as well as the integrity and impartiality of the criminal courts.
The U.S. earned a ranking of 0.69, only 20th in the world, 11th out of the 12 nations in our region, and 20th out of the 23 nations with similar wealth and economic development — nearly as poor a showing as our Civil Justice score, above.
Despite what some critics say, we’re not yet a Banana Republic. But neither are we a “shining city on a hill,” and we have much work to do if we want to become one. While the 2011 Index covers 66 nations, next year’s WJP Index is planned to report data gathered from 100 countries.
Source: The World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index (2011); available at: http://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/wjproli2011_0.pdf
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