"[The WJP Rule of Law Index] is general; it is specific; it is rigorous but accessible. It is an unusual project to take such a complicated concept and make a useful index that is useful for practitioners and scholars alike."  -- Thomas Carothers
 
The WJP Rule of Law Index relies on over 100,000 household and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced in everyday life around the world. In advance of the launch of the WJP Rule of Law Index 2014, we asked leading global voices to share their thoughts on the importance of the rule of law and the World Justice Project's efforts to measure it. 
 
Here's what Thomas Carothers, VP for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment, has to say about #WJPIndex. 
 
 
About Thomas Carothers
 
Thomas Carothers is Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the founder and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program and oversees Carnegie Europe in Brussels.
 
Carothers is a leading authority on international support for democracy, rights, and governance and on comparative democratization as well as an expert on U.S. foreign policy. He has worked on democracy-assistance projects for many public and private organizations and carried out extensive field research on international aid efforts around the world. He is the author of six critically acclaimed books as well as many articles in prominent journals and newspapers. Prior to joining the Carnegie Endowment, Carothers practiced international and financial law at Arnold & Porter and served as an attorney adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State.

 

WJP Staff
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To strengthen global understanding of access to justice, the World Justice Project has developed the Global Legal Needs Survey (GLNS)—the first effort to collect comparable data on how people experience and resolve legal problems worldwide. Conducted in over 100 countries between 2017 and 2024, the survey captures the voices of more than 100,000 people, shedding light on the most common legal challenges, sources of help, and the real-life impact of justice problems.

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WJP Chief of Public Sector Partnerships Mark Lewis during his participation in the United Kingdom House of Lords Constitution Committee’s official inquiry into the rule of law

On July 2, 2025, the World Justice Project (WJP) was honored to participate in the United Kingdom House of Lords Constitution Committee’s official inquiry into the rule of law. This invitation followed WJP’s written submission and marked an invaluable opportunity to support evidence-based policymaking in the United Kingdom.

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