How to Advance the Rule of Law Abroad by Rachel Kleinfeld, The Carnegie Democracy and Rule of Law Program.
Many U.S. and Western policymakers hold that helping other countries reduce corruption, diminish violence, and otherwise achieve the rule of law is essential to advancing security, democracy, and economic development worldwide. Yet despite spending billions to catalyze rule-of-law improvements, international actors have a poor record of success. To make efforts more effective, leaders should…
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What's missing here is discussion or even acknowledgement of the extent to which those who hold power in many rule of law-deficient countries depend on their exemption from the law to sustain their own positions and prerogatives. Just to cite the example I know best, in the Philippines the basic foundation of elite privilege is exemption from the law: without it the ruling dynasties would wither and collapse. These groups are not about to give up their privileged positions without a fight, and in their view (reasonably accurate) attempts to impose the rule of law are an existential threat. The idea that this can be overcome by training and education is quite risible, and it's not surprising that substantial spending on "democracy building" and "rule of law" projects here has had close to zero impact.
There are things that can be done to advance the rule of law in these countries, but we have to accept that doing so would mean fundamentally disrupting the political status quo. We have to decide whether or not we want to do that, because in many ways the goal of sustaining the political status quo is fundamentally incompatible with the goal of advancing the rule of law.