Portal:Politics/Selected article/2007, week 20
The The Spirit of the Laws (1748).
In continental European legal thinking, rule of law is associated with a Rechtsstaat. According to Anglo-American thinking, hallmarks of adherence to the rule of law commonly include a clear separation of powers, legal certainty, the principle of legitimate expectation and equality of all before the law.
The concept is not uncontroversial, and it has been said that "the phrase 'the Rule of Law' has become meaningless thanks to ideological abuse and general over-use".