GLOSSARY
Rule of law: why it is the cross-cutting criterion, with the WJP 2025 ranking
Updated August 2, 2026
"Democracy" describes how power is obtained. "Rule of law" describes what limits it once obtained. These are two distinct dimensions, and their separation explains why a freely elected government can still erode the safeguards meant to constrain it.
What it is
The principle that every person, institution and entity — including the organs of the state itself — is subject to laws that are publicly known, equally enforced, and adjudicated by an independent judiciary, consistent with international human-rights standards. It is the cross-cutting criterion the other entries in this glossary use, in different forms, to distinguish themselves from one another: the presence or absence of an effective rule of law is often what separates, in the measurement practice of V-Dem/Freedom House/EIU, a flawed democracy from a hybrid regime, or a hybrid regime from an electoral autocracy.
Why the entry isn't redundant with the others
"Democracy" describes a method for selecting power (elections); "rule of law" describes a limit on power once obtained, independent of how it was obtained. A government can emerge from free elections and still erode the rule of law (this is exactly the pattern described under → Illiberal democracy); a strong rule of law could in theory coexist with limits on electoral competition, although in practice the two dimensions tend to strengthen or weaken together.
The picture as of 2025
According to the World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index 2025 (published October 28, 2025, 143 countries and jurisdictions, 0-1 scale), the top five are Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand; the bottom five are Venezuela (143rd), Afghanistan (142nd), Cambodia (141st), Haiti (140th), Nicaragua (139th). 2025 marks a widespread deterioration: 68% of countries declined in their rule-of-law score in 2025, against 57% the previous year — a figure worth reporting because it shows that the weakening of the rule of law is not a phenomenon confined to the cases already covered by this site, but a global trend measured independently.
See also
Democracy · Illiberal democracy · Hybrid regime
Sources: World Justice Project — Rule of Law Index 2025 · World Justice Project — global press release