About
Rule of law is a foundational principle in a constitutional democracy like ours. It captures the idea that democracies govern through law and general public rules, and not through the raw exercise of unchecked power.
We rely on rule of law for all sorts of things: to protect liberty and advance equality, to prevent violence, to ensure fair elections, to run the economy, and ultimately to craft a fair and democratic balance between law, power, and change.
All major civic institutions play a role in maintaining rule of law, but the Supreme Court is especially central. To illuminate how, this Project brings together ten prominent professors from law schools across the United States. Each one is a leading legal scholar and recognized expert in their field. They come from a variety of intellectual backgrounds and they disagree about many things. But they are united in their agreement about the centrality of rule of law for the stability, safety, and integrity of our democracy.
Each professor has contributed a short video in which they teach us how to read and interpret one seminal Supreme Court case in their field of expertise.
Each scholar shares their deep knowledge of their field — from free speech to judicial supremacy to immigration to reproductive rights. They explain how the Court’s reasoning in that particular decision changed the law in large ways, for better or for worse, and they explore the implications for our democracy.
In other words, they demonstrate how rule of law actually worked (or perhaps did not work so well) in an important, high profile, highly contested context.
Taken together, these videos and scholars will introduce you to how rule of law is practiced in courts, taught in law schools, and debated in legal scholarship. Take a look for yourself.
The Rule of Law Teaching Project was created and produced by Professor Alexandra Natapoff in her individual capacity as a legal educator and scholar. She is the Lee S. Kreindler Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.
Rule of Law 101 is a spin-off of the video casebook “Constitutional Rights in Black and White” (CRBW), also created by Professor Natapoff. For more information, visit CRBW.law.harvard.edu.
Disclaimer: Nothing on this website or in any of the videos constitutes legal advice.