Is “rule of law” anything more than a fictional allusion? After all, “law” is an abstract noun, and abstract nouns can’t rule. Only people can rule. The conceptual framework of constitutional political economy invokes a central distinction between choosing rules and playing within...

The aspects of institutions’ influence on economic growth and the priorities of their development are studied in the article. Two complementary analytical techniques are suggested. The first one, based on the discrete institutional alternatives method, is aimed at the "institutional design"...

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communist regimes, many Central and East European countries successfully managed a ‘return to Europe’. For many observers, the ‘return to Europe’ signaled the ultimate victory of democracy and rule of law over the legacy of...

This paper reviews the literature on economic development as it relates to indigenous people in the United States and Canada, and focuses on how institutions affect economic development of reservation and reserve economies. Evidence shows that strong property rights to reservation and reserve...

Can corruption improve economic efficiency? Classical political economists argue that corruption undermines the rule of law (Smith 2001, chap 5). The modern Public Choice proponents argue that corruption and lobbying might influence the efficiency of the rule of law. While Chicago Public Choice...

Whoever came up with the adage, "the law of the jungle", seems not to have taken time to assess the behavior of the animals in relation to social and political governance as well as their application of the rule of law. The statement is meant to suggest that there is chaos and disorder in the...

From 7–10 December 2012, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chief justices and their designees convened in Melaka, Malaysia for their second roundtable on environment. The roundtable provided a forum for experts to discuss common ASEAN environmental challenges and for ASEAN judges...

From 5–7 December 2011, chief justices and senior members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) judiciaries, and representatives from various governmental agencies, nongovernment organizations and civil society groups convened in an inaugural roundtable, in Jakarta, Indonesia,...

In November 2013, the central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), at its third plenum, issued a Directives Paper (with 16 items and 60 prescriptions), setting out a long-term strategic compendium of China’s reform agenda, based on the principle of separation between market and...