Cut off elites' purses and power

While they write "To establish the rule of law, cut off elites’ purses and power. Here’s how." with regards to Estonia, I keep reading Central America.

But they’re stumbling. The Western effort assumes that the rule of law will flourish only if developing countries receive enough education, guidance, training and money. In fact, a growing body of research throws such optimism into doubt. The rule-of-law campaign has had disappointing results (see here, here, here and here).

Why? The underlying problem is political. Developing-country elites often depend on the rule of law’s absence for their survival and enrichment. More money, training and education won’t work as long as those who hold power prefer that it not arise and can easily undermine any efforts to introduce it.

That’s because adopting the rule of law is complex. A country needs to enact an immense number of rules. Crafting and enforcing those rules requires cooperation among legislatures, ministries, departments of ministries, the judiciary, local governments and more. At each stage, defenders of the status quo can sabotage or twist the effort to their advantage.

See also my Justice Deferred: Rule of Law in Central America for World Politics Review in November 2014.