The rule of law shall guard the guards

Without fairness and equality, the rule of law too often becomes a euphemism for unadulterated power, as expressed by 19th century Mexican president Benito Juarez, who was known as much for his small stature as for his extraordinary intelligence: "For my friends, grace and justice; for my enemies, the law." Or put in succinct, modern terms: those who are with me get everything; those who are against me get the law.

Possibly the single most threatening challenge to the rule of law is corruption. It is the poison that rots societies from the inside and foils all sustainable social and economic development. Corruption has a highly corrosive effect that prevents prosperity and well-being not only because it squanders and diverts resources from their intended purposes and recipients, but also - and perhaps more dangerously - because it entrenches a sense of cynicism and contempt for legal authority among the population.

In its most insidious form, corruption at the state level - manifested either crudely as primitive theft or more subtly in the form of privatization of profits and nationalization of losses - cements the perception among the people that the deck will always be stacked against them, so they might as well join the party and abandon all law-abiding principles and codes of decency. After all, if the ones on the top don't play by the rules, why should I?

Economies and societies prosper when laws are clearly defined and consistently applied to all. A stakeholder society, where individuals feel that they are part of something larger than their individual selves, can only develop in an environment that continuously and unequivocally expresses a commitment to the rule of law and public integrity. Indeed, freedom cannot be obtained without freedom from corruption.

Cracking down on corruption requires herculean efforts from top to bottom, from the capital to the regions, from the primary national stage to more anonymous and insidious municipal actors. Reforms must be reforms in substance, not just in form. But when they succeed, we can finally answer the momentous question posed by the Roman poet Juvenal in his Satires: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who will guard the guards themselves?)

The rule of law will, that's who.

The author is a member of the board of the Liechtenstein Foundation for State Governance.