… is from page 120 of the 1982 Liberty Fund edition of Albert Venn Dicey’s 1885 Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution:
It [the rule of law] means, in the first place, the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power, and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative, or even of wide discretionary authority on the part of the government.
DBx: Who can observe the size and scope of the administrative state in America today – not to mention the discretion exercised by the U.S. president personally – and honestly conclude that the rule of law here reigns supreme? I think no one.
