The rule of law

The rule of law appears to be deteriorating by the minute on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in the United States, where the Trump administration is determined to upend what was a benchmark of democratic goodwill. Meanwhile, radical political options are also gaining ground in Europe. This deterioration, to some extent, is also affecting us, with more and more voices threatening our rule of law.

This concept defines a governance model based on four main criteria: the rule of law, the separation of powers, respect for fundamental rights, and the legality of the Administration. These are essential principles that underpin both our Constitution and the Treaty on European Union. Thus, given its significance, it is understandable why political power seeks to occupy spaces not its own to benefit partisan interests. This is even more worrying given the lack of a clear direction for the democratic drift in the midst of a populist surge.

Many citizens believe that it is democracy that has abandoned them.

We will not escape this impasse if we limit our understanding of the rule of law to the legal and institutional spheres, ignoring the fundamental issue that, even if not included in academic definitions, is taken for granted: social justice. Only in this way will we understand why a portion of the citizenry remains indifferent to the loss of democratic quality. It is not that many citizens are blithely abandoning democracy, but rather that they believe that democracy has abandoned them.

A long-standing discord stems from an economy that fractures and tends to proletarianize the middle class, while simultaneously plunging a significant percentage of the population into irreversible marginalization. When a segment of society considers itself a loser and struggles to make ends meet, the quality of public life becomes a minor concern. Thus, as long as we do not address the underlying reasons for the discord between citizenship and democracy, populism will increase, and with it, the disdain for democratic procedures.

Many of those concerned about the health of our rule of law cling to the Constitution as a lifeline. Curiously, our Constitution begins by stating: "Spain is constituted as a social and democratic state governed by the rule of law..." In other words, its authors wanted to prioritize social justice, understood as the foundation that supports the dense network of rights and freedoms. Thus, just as if the foundations of any building are weakened, it threatens to collapse, something similar happens with our rule of law. We are working on it.