1. From systems to citizens: the rule of law as a SSH research key topics in the EU
Daniela Piana
University of Bologna
Session: Democracy, justice and stability

2. The starting point
SSH legacy: focusing on systems (political systems, judicial systems, economic systems)
SSH dominant methodology: quantitative analysis + macro trends
Policy guidelines: targeting rules and structures which shape the systems

3. The added value we gained so far
Comparative approaches
Analysis of macro and long term changes
Baseline for inter – governmental and inter – institutional cooperation

4. What’s missing? The gap between structures and functions
The rules that shape the policy field do not determine the policy implementation processes
The policy timeframe creates an unavoidable gap between the lives of citizens and the systems where they live

5. What’s the SSH agenda for?
Provide a new insight about the empirical dimensions that a macro scale and systemic approach does not take into account
Provide sound and reliable methodologies to go beyond the anedoctic treatment of the micro processes and create analytical framework that can support a citizens – oriented approach to the institutional analysis

6. Is this a deny of the strength of the quantitative methods?
No! This is the claim for a mix methodological approach
SSH should be powerful and insightful enough to go “micro” and keep an eye on the macro level
How?

7. Rule of law as an empirical object
Two faces targeted by the mainstream
Courts as institutional devise to enforce fundamental rights
Courts systems as an institutional devise to hold the legislative and the executive branches accountable and answerable to the law

8. What is missing? The demand of justice
The pre legal and pre judicial dimension of the rule of law
The expectations citizens address to the judicial and the legal institutions

9. Regaining the missing dimension
Toward a three dimensions notion of rule of law
Demand of rights and justice
The court system and the checks and balances
The rights enforcement mechanisms

10. An agenda for the SSH in the European
Communities and groups focused analyses of the demand of justice
Empirical analysis of the way judicial institutions actually work (beyond the formal rules)
Empirical analysis of the conditions created for the right enforcement be accessible to all, reliable and efficient