ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to show the rule of law by considering the character and fate of a particular disposition – a wish to temper power. The rule of law is one of a number of overlapping ideas, among them constitutionalism, due process, legality, justice, that make claims for the proper character and role of law in well-ordered states and societies. The liberalism of fear can also limit and distort one's understanding of politics, and of law. There are two levels at which the welfare and regulatory activities of modern states offend neo-liberals. One appears wholesale and covers the gamut of modern welfare and regulatory state activities. It has to do with the purpose and scope of much such activity, and its alleged social, economic and political consequences. The other focuses on the effects of this activity on the character of the laws that this active modern state comes to rely upon, and in particular on the form of law.
