Foreword

• Author: Patrick J. Monahan
• Pages: 11-12

ix

Foreword

Nearly thirty years ago, Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the “end of

history,” ref‌lecting his belief that liberal democracy had become

universalized as the f‌inal form of human government. ree dec-

ades later, his conf‌idence in the global triumph of liberal democracy

appears increasingly open to question. As the Economist Intelligence

Unit reported in its Democracy Index 2020: In Sickness and in Health?,

democratic political institutions globally have come under increas-

ing pressure in recent years, and less than  percent of the world’s

population now lives in what the Intelligence Unit regards as a “full

democrac[y].”

e lifeblood of liberal democratic government is the rule of

law — the principle whereby all persons and institutions are account-

able to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and

independently adjudicated. e rule of law has long been regarded as

an “unqualif‌ied human good,” even by those who acknowledge that

few functioning political s ystems have lived up to the full aspirations

of this noble ideal. But as with liberal democracy, the principle of

the rule of law has itself has faced signif‌icant challenges in recent

years, none more pressing that the chaotic outcome of the  US

presidential election and the continued baseless e orts by the former

president to pressure public ocials to overturn the results.