Property Rights Systems and the Rule of Law, page 2 stance of the rights matters. Societies that are relatively friendly to property, not only giving it security but also providing broad scope for the use of property according to its owners' desires. also will have an advantage 3 Substance aside, however, the degree to which the society is bound by law, is committed to processes that allow property rights to be secure under legal rules that will be applied predictably and not subject to the whims of particular individuals, matters The commitment to such processes is the essence of the rule of law Although societies differ markedly in their commitment to the rule of law, the dis- tinctions often are less clear than might at first blush appear. The ways in which systems manage changes in property rights and in legal rules that affect property rights, along with the ways in which systems constrain official discretion, are the keys to the effective- ness of the rule of law but the rule of law does not bar change nor does it forbid di tion. Change is a natural part of any legal system, and efforts to limit change must be seen not as ends in themselves but as part of a larger framework for assuring predictable valid, law-based governance. Discretion to effect changes in the nature of property rights seems an inevitable part of any property rights system. And the division between sys- tems that conform closely to the rule of law and those that depart from it will be tied less to whether discretion to shape and alter the law exists than to the nature of the discretion to its concentration in few or many hands and its relation to other authority and to other legal and practical constraints. Conformity to the rule of law in the end cannot be meas- ured in discrete increments but must be viewed as the product of a set of related consid- erationsProperty Rights Systems and the Rule of Law, page 2 ________________________________________________________________________ stance of the rights matters. Societies that are relatively friendly to property, not only giving it security but also providing broad scope for the use of property according to its owners’ desires, also will have an advantage.3 Substance aside, however, the degree to which the society is bound by law, is committed to processes that allow property rights to be secure under legal rules that will be applied predictably and not subject to the whims of particular individuals, matters. The commitment to such processes is the essence of the rule of law.4 Although societies differ markedly in their commitment to the rule of law, the dis￾tinctions often are less clear than might at first blush appear. The ways in which systems manage changes in property rights and in legal rules that affect property rights, along with the ways in which systems constrain official discretion, are the keys to the effective￾ness of the rule of law. But the rule of law does not bar change nor does it forbid discre￾tion. Change is a natural part of any legal system, and efforts to limit change must be seen not as ends in themselves but as part of a larger framework for assuring predictable, valid, law-based governance. Discretion to effect changes in the nature of property rights seems an inevitable part of any property rights system. And the division between sys￾tems that conform closely to the rule of law and those that depart from it will be tied less to whether discretion to shape and alter the law exists than to the nature of the discretion, to its concentration in few or many hands and its relation to other authority and to other legal and practical constraints. Conformity to the rule of law in the end cannot be meas￾ured in discrete increments but must be viewed as the product of a set of related consid￾erations