ABSTRACT
The pan-European coverage of our enterprise recognises that in the last few years there have been some spectacular political changes in the nature of states that, at least rhetorically, represent a convergence towards the two central concepts of this project: the rule of law and democracy. In the most general terms, the first of these has come to refer to the subjection of governments (both ministers and state officials) to the same laws regarding conduct as those relating to citizens in general and the second refers to the fact that, at regular intervals, citizens exercise some choice of governments through competitive elections conducted in the context of freedoms of speech and association. A third dimension to the convergence must be acknowledged since it has profound implications for the issues we are examining: the central position of market economies.
