Why the rule of law matters

The recent change in the composition of Sullivan County’s Zone Administration Board (ZAB), the body that makes decisions about tax breaks in the local Empire Zone (see “Shake up at the Empire Zone Board” on page 3) may seem like much ado over nothing. So the old board didn’t dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s; so what? When rank-and-file citizens step up and take positions on local governing or regulatory bodies, one can’t expect them necessarily to be up to speed on the details of the rules. As long as they can generally be expected to act in good faith, one could argue, it’s churlish to nitpick about the details.

But what is at stake is something that lies at the very heart of a viable democracy: the rule of law.

The rule of law is the opposite of a monarchy or dictatorship. In the latter systems, all the power is vested in one individual who gets to decide what the rules are, and to change them as he or she pleases. That works just fine as long as the individual in question has the wisdom, knowledge and integrity to make the best possible decisions for the entire populace. But in real life, any ruling position will be filled over time by a wide array of individuals from scoundrels and fools to sages and saints—regardless of the method by which they are chosen. The rule of law is an insurance policy against that fact.

Thus, a democracy like ours is different from a monarchy not only because the rulers are elected rather than hereditary, but because once in power they are not entitled to do absolutely anything they want to do. They are bound to adhere to and enforce a system of laws that has been set up and agreed to by the representatives of the people over a period of time. It is this, as much as elections, that makes the United States a country that is ruled by its people, not by tyrants.

This obligation to follow the rules applies to every official who forms part of the government, from the President and members of Congress to the people who sit on bodies like the ZAB. No one is above the law. Sometimes it might be tempting to dismiss the rules in question as trivial. But once one has accepted the idea that any individual can decide for him- or herself whether a rule is important or not, trivial or not, right or not, that person has been set up as a little king and a piece of democracy dies.

This issue is particularly crucial currently because it is being threatened at the highest levels of government. When President Bush refuses to give information to the public and Congress, co-opts the Department of Justice to shield the White House from investigation of malfeasance or issues signing statements signaling his intent to disobey laws passed by the legislature, he is setting himself up as king. When the ZAB neglected to notify the public of meetings or failed to keep minutes, the impact was hardly as dramatic or widespread. But deliberate or not, it undermined the rule of law in a way that we must be vigilant to recognize and oppose.

Nor is it clear that the rules that the old board failed to follow were entirely trivial. When you don’t give the public notice of meetings and don’t maintain proper records, that has the effect—again, deliberate or not—of hiding information from the electorate. And an informed electorate, like the rule of law, is one of the key pillars of democracy. The tax breaks that are handed out to companies like Yukiguni Maitake in effect come out of our pockets; they reduce not only state but also county tax revenue, and presumably individuals have to make up the difference. The public surely has the right to know what decisions are being made about its own money.

The controversy over Yukiguni Maitake provided the occasion for the changes in the ZAB, and those who support the proposed plant may be disgruntled with those changes on that account. But if Yukiguni Maitake or any other company is to have special tax breaks doled out to it, it must do so within the rules that we have set up for ourselves in this democracy. To that extent, everybody in Sullivan County should have cause to celebrate that the proceedings of the ZAB will, we hope, now comply with the regulations that we, as a nation ruled by laws, not men, have set down for it.

Also in this issue:

• Dare to hope

Dr. Punnybone

On Top of His Game