论法治的起源与现代法治国家的运行机制

顾名思义，法治即法律的统治。历史上存在过多种类型的法律，只有法治之法才能保障自由，这种法治之法主要表现为一些一般且抽象的规则。法治国家就是这样一种国家，它不仅是宪法的、分权协作的、基本权利得到保障的、权力行使得以全面规范的，而且也是从立法和司法程序之合理性所确保的公平性中取得其合法性的。
The rule of law means that a state is governed according to the law. However，it is not necessarilytrue that any law can guarantee freedom. As a matter of fact，the freedom can be only protected and promotedby the law embodying the spirit of rule of law，which is actually based on some general and abstract principles.A country built upon such kind of principles can be regarded as a law-based country，where the constitutionhas the supreme authority，powers are divided and checked，the basic human rights are well protected，anyexercise of power is in strict accordance with the law，and the legitimacy of state power derives from thefairness guaranteed by the reasonable legislative and judicial procedures