The Rule of Law and the Measure of Property

Reviews / Votes

'This accessible and highly engaging book shows Waldron's versatility as he moves from the Lucas case on constitutional protection for beachfront property besieged by environmental legislation to work on the rule of law by Dicey, Epstein, Hayek, and Raz. At every point [he] advances the debate between procedural and substantive versions of the rule of law and their implications for property holdings - all this with a grace and fluidity of expression that makes this book a pleasure to read.' Stephen Munzer, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles 'In The Rule of Law and the Measure of Property Jeremy Waldron examines with his characteristic style and insight the relation, such as there is, between private rights and the rule of law. That the protection of private rights, in particular property rights, broadly construed, is an essential function of the rule of law is now widely promoted, especially in the literature on economic development, and Waldron provides a most welcome corrective to that view.' J. E. Penner, Head of Law, University College London 'Even by his own high standards, Jeremy Waldron's Hamlyn Lectures are stunning. Taking on defenders of the idea that our rights to private property trump any legislature's right to limits or restrict them, from John Locke in the seventeenth century to Richard Epstein in the twenty-first, he demonstrates just how shaky the foundations of that view really are. He is no enemy to the idea of the rule of law, but he is a devastating critic of the claim that the rule of law privileges private property above all else. The lectures are tightly argued, but written with a dry wit that makes them a continuous pleasure to read, a genuine case of great learning lightly worn.' Alan Ryan, Princeton University