RULE OF LAW: UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA
The classic American expression came from John Adams when he wrote
the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, "to the end it may be a
government of laws, not of men". The rule of law has four key
components, viz. (38)
(a) a formal, regular process of law enforcement and adjudication. (10)
(b) the rules are binding on both the government and those governed
alike. (13)
(c) the rule of law implies that there are certain unwritten rules and
followed standards to which specific laws and lawmaking must conform.
Example: there can be no 'ex post facto' laws, nor can there be 'bills of
attainder', the rule against double jeopardy, and the great writ of Habeas
Corpus. (51)
(d) the rule of law is ultimately focused on the centrality of lawmaking.
Therefore, those who make laws are themselves subject to a law above
them, the supreme law of the land. In key procedural and constitutional
concepts the rule of law is positioned above the government. By definition
and enforcement it is a formal restraint on the government.
(59)
The constitution further supports the rule of law by the doctrine of
separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. This creates
dynamism within the workings of the government by enforcing
constitutional limits beyond their mere statement. (39)
The framers of the U.S. Constitution set their objective to free the republic
from despotic rulers, from those stronger sections of communities which
exercised their arbitrary will on others, and to establish the rule of law, of
limited constitutional government based on consent , and secure the
inalienable rights of the citizens, which are granted to them by the
supreme law of the land. (64)
I believe in the Separation of Powers and the system of checks and
balances as most important. It supports the law by dividing and checking
powers among the three branches of the government to prevent abuse of
power. The President checks over the Congress by his power to veto bills,
by settling disputes of both houses of the Congress by finalising the date
for adjournment, by appointing judges to the federal courts .
(72)

The Congress checks on the executive by the following ways: it may

override a veto (except pocket-veto) by the President, has the sole power
to declare war, it may begin investigations against the executive branch,
the houses of Congress may impeach the officers of the executive and
judicial branches. (51)
Lastly, the Judiciary checks both the Executive and Legislative branches
by its power of Judicial Review. The separation of powers along with the
system of checks and balances guarantees the interdependence of all
three branches of the U.S. government, which prevents the abuse of
powers vested in them by the American Constitution. (52)