Extinction.

As history shows, shockingly horrific - even genocidal - consequences can flow from a societal breakdown of the Rule of Law. 420 Just consider Nazi Germany and The Holocaust, 421 the Rwandan genocide, 422 "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 423 and all of the atrocities committed by the regimes in Turkey, Syrian and Iran. 424 In sharp contrast, the ideal of the Rule of Law, one articulated long ago, is that everyone will be treated fairly and equally by the law. 425 A Rule of Law system puts people front and center in their own governance, divides power to prevent its abuse, 426 insists on equal application of the laws, and requires an independent judiciary and skilled lawyers 427 to vigilantly safeguard individual rights. 428 Before the onset of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the Continental Congress, in 1774, drew particular inspiration from Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments - a book that opposed tyrannical practices - in articulating a core principle of the Enlightenment and of the American Revolution. 429 As the Continental Congress wrote that year in a letter to the inhabitants of Quebec:

"In every human Society,' says the celebrated Marquis Beccaria, following the steps of the immortal Montesquieu in impressing sentiments of Humanity, "there is an Effort continually tending to confer on one Part the height of Power and Happiness, and to reduce the other to the extreme of Weakness & Misery. The intent of good Laws, is to oppose this Effort, and to diffuse their Influence, universally, & equally.' 430

When corrupt politicians such as Donald Trump repeatedly lie, ignore or brazenly violate laws and norms, refuse to comply with subpoenas, excoriate journalists and judges to deflect their own wrongdoing, use hate speech and racially charged rhetoric, employ division and disinformation to manipulate, and seek to enrich themselves at the taxpayers' expense, the Rule of Law is eroded and undermined, 431 especially if there are no immediate consequences - or plainly insufficient pushback - for such behavior and misconduct. And that is the case even though the long-standing principle that "no one is above the law" might be occasionally invoked, whether rhetorically or by the courts, 432when it appears to the general public that nothing concrete is, in actuality, ever done to check the misconduct, illegality, or abuses of power. As Joyce Vance, a law professor at the University of Alabama and a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, put it nicely: "Accountability is essential to our system of government. The Founding Fathers created checks and balances to keep any one branch from growing too powerful." 433

In today’s world, there are many pressing problems that need to be addressed, including global warming and the climate crisis,434 poverty and hunger,435 a lack of affordable health care,436 discrimination437 and unemployment,438 pollution439 and habitat destruction,440 the plight of tens of millions of refugees and forcibly displaced persons,441 hate crimes and the use of excessive force,442 and matters of peace and international security.443 Consequently, respect for the Rule of Law must be restored post-haste in the post-Trump presidency, and there must be a much-needed renewal—indeed, an amplification—of the commitment to further it. The global future of the Rule of Law, in fact, must concentrate on better protecting human rights,444 combatting corruption,445 eliminating poverty and hunger,446 reducing disease and other forms of human suffering,447 funding and fostering legal aid services448 and an independent judiciary,449 and bringing more equality and human dignity to the world’s diverse societies.45