Rechtsstaat

A state in which public power is bound by law, constrained by constitutional rights, and subject to independent judicial review.

Rule of law: The principle that everyone, including government officials, is subject to publicly known and fairly applied law. Rechtsstaat describes a constitutional form of government built around this principle.
Constitutional review: Judicial examination of whether laws or government acts comply with a constitution. It allows courts to invalidate public measures that breach constitutional limits.
Police state: A state that relies heavily on police and security forces to control society, often with weak protections against arbitrary power. It illustrates the danger of coercive government operating without effective legal restraint.
Robert von Mohl: A nineteenth-century German jurist and political thinker who helped develop the modern idea of the Rechtsstaat. His writings gave the concept an influential account centered on legally limited government.
Constitutional democracy: A democratic system in which a constitution limits government and protects rights, including against majority rule. Rechtsstaat safeguards help ensure democratic decisions remain within constitutional bounds.
Constitutionalism: The principle that government authority is limited by a constitution and cannot lawfully exceed its bounds. A Rechtsstaat makes constitutional limits binding on public authorities.
Administrative law: The body of law governing public administration and the review of decisions made by administrative authorities. It subjects routine exercises of executive power to legal standards and court scrutiny.
Authoritarianism: A system of government that concentrates political power and restricts meaningful political competition and civil liberties. Authoritarian rule can preserve legal forms while weakening independent checks on public power.
Immanuel Kant: An eighteenth-century German philosopher whose political theory linked rightful government to public laws and individual freedom. Kantian ideas helped shape the intellectual setting for legal limits on state power.
Access to justice: The ability to seek and obtain fair remedies through courts and other legal institutions. Legal constraints matter in practice only when people can challenge violations and obtain remedies.

Linked from 1 page

Rudolf von GneistRelated: Gneist’s legal and administrative reforms addressed how public authority could be made answerable to law.