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Learning Rule of Law

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Norms, Storytelling and International Institutions in China

Part of the book series: St Antony's Series ((STANTS))

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Abstract

Using primary materials on participatory legislation and the abolishment of the re-education through labour system (RETL), this chapter shows that, on the one hand, stories of Northern/Western countries are still prioritised in formal reports and study tours, framed with notions of standardisation and institutionalisation under the imperative to modernise. On the other hand, experiences with geographical and ideological similarity in Southern countries are narrated to resonate with postcolonial identity, lessening the political resistance from the governments involved. The power of lesson-drawing is connected to the strong implication that local reforms are part of a broader global movement in converging normative principles, yet these lessons are only effective and persuasive once they attain local resonance that transform their epistemic otherness into agreeable heterogeneity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Meseguer (2004) defines emulation as a result of herding on others’ experience, while learning entails adoption of ideas with updates on beliefs and understandings. He further points out the features of emulation: actors often do not scrutinise all available experience with analytical capabilities, with a lack of motivation or planning on what to do, and are driven by the desire more for reputation and credibility than for the improvement of policies and practices.

  2. 2.

    For more details on the good governance paradigm, see Chap. 7.

  3. 3.

    For the UN , the rule of law is defined as the “principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.” Report of the Secretary-General: The rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies (S/2004/616).

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  1. School of International Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Xiaoyu Lu

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Lu, X. (2021). Learning Rule of Law. In: Norms, Storytelling and International Institutions in China. St Antony's Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56707-1_6

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