ABSTRACT
Understanding the relationship between government and citizen is key to any healthy democracy. So is an understanding of the degree to which governments need to use discretion in creating and implementing law and public policy. Too little discretion makes government ineffective. Too much discretion opens the door to the abuse of power and, with it, diminished confidence in government. In a modern, liberal democracy, three guiding principles are especially important for ensuring that police officers, judges, politicians and bureaucrats do not use the law to punish their political enemies and reward their political friends, to ensure that a nation’s governing authority is not abused: the rule of law, the separation of powers and democratic accountability.
