For Immediate Release: January 25, 2006
Contact: Jennifer Linker, 202/939-2372, jlinker@CarnegieEndowment.org
Thomas Carothers—a leading U.S. expert on democracy promotion— has compiled a groundbreaking collection of essays on international rule-of-law practices and policies in his new edited volume, Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: In Search of Knowledge. This collection of innovative essays provides unprecedented insight into the challenges that define this vital but misunderstood field.
Carothers argues that in recent years, foreign policy makers have encouraged rule-of-law solutions to a variety of 21st century challenges: human rights abuses in China, untamed Russian capitalism, and Mexico’s treacherous transitions. Carothers cautions, however, that turning to the rule of law as a panacea for the ills of countries in transition from dictatorships or statist economies should make patients and prescribers wary.
Carothers raises a series of potent questions: Is there a common definition of the rule of law that unite different programs in this domain, how can such efforts be made more effective, and what obstacles exist to doing so?
In Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad, leading practitioners and policy-oriented scholars draw on years of experience to critically assess the rationale, methods, and goals of rule-of-law policies and programs. Essays from scholars with a wide range of functional and regional expertise provide an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the future of rule-of-law and democracy promotion. This group of authors, lead by Carothers, boldly examines the rule of law by defining its purpose in the international development community and combining it with on-the-ground, insider knowledge of rule-of-law promotion around the world.
Thomas Carothers is founder and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment. He is a leading authority on democracy promotion and democratization worldwide as well as an expert on U.S. foreign policy. He is co-editor, with Marina Ottaway, of Uncharted Journey: Promoting Democracy in the Middle East (Carnegie Endowment).
Visit www.CarnegieEndowment.org/RuleofLaw for free excerpts and ordering information.
January 2006, 350 pp.
Paper: 0-87003-219-4, $19.95
Cloth: 0-87003-220-8, $50.00
Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: In Search of Knowledge
Thomas Carothers, Editor
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Jessica T. Mathews
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Framing the Challenge
1. The Rule-of-Law Revival by Thomas Carothers
2. The Problem of Knowledge by Thomas Carothers
Part II. Questioning the Orthodoxy
3. Competing Definitions of the Rule of Law Orthodoxy by Rachel Kleinfeld
4. Mythmaking in the Rule-of-Law Orthodoxy by Frank Upham
5. A House without a Foundation by Stephen Golub
6. Lessons Not Learned about Legal Reform by Wade Channell
7. The Legal Empowerment Alternative by Stephen Golub
Part III. Regional Experiences
8. A Trojan Horse in China? by Matthew Stephenson
9. The Complexity of Success in Russia by Matthew Spence
10. Middle East Dilemmas by David Mednicoff
11. Time to Learn, Time to Act in Africa by Laure-Hélène Piron
12. Measuring the Impact of Criminal Justice Reform in Latin America by Lisa Bhansali and Christina Biebesheimer
Part IV. Conclusions
13. Steps Toward Knowledge by Thomas Carothers
Bibliography
Index
Contributors
ADVANCE PRAISE
“Once again, as he did with democratization, Thomas Carothers has taken a topic with grand rhetorical appeal that is subject to multiple meanings and brought it down to earth for both scholars and practitioners. This book offers an invaluable cumulation of what is known about promoting the rule of law abroad while raising an essential set of questions to guide further research and practice.”
—Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
“If you want to understand why promoting the rule of law around the world is both ardently pursued and hotly criticized, read this spirited and sobering book. Carothers's own essays are the gold standard in this field. An indispensable work in a field of vital importance.”
—Stephen Holmes, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
“This volume pays the highest compliment to those who advocate the rule of law as essential for development: it takes their efforts seriously enough to subject them to searching scrutiny. The insightful, accessible analysis it contains will help move rule of law promotion from slogan to reality.”
—Richard Messick, Sr. Public Sector Specialist, the World Bank
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