Researching rule of law initiatives and conditions can be challenging due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, combining law, international relations, area studies, and the full range of social sciences.
Relevant materials are wide-ranging, from evidence of governmental and intergovernmental actions, to “soft law” such as United Nations resolutions and nongovernmental organization reports, to statistical surveys and news accounts. Documents can be voluminous and poorly organized, and may be issued by many different organizations around the world, some with insufficient recordkeeping and reporting mechanisms due to post-conflict and transitional conditions.
The resources listed in this guide are good places to start your research. For personalized guidance on your rule of law research, please make an appointment with Susan Gualtier, Biddle's Foreign and International Law Librarian.
The following are a few examples of titles in Biddle Law Library providing introductions to rule of law theory and practice. Many more can be found by searching Biddle's Search Center or Van Pelt's Franklin catalogs using "rule of law" as a subject heading. Jurisdiction-specific materials can be found by adding the name of the country or region to the search string.