Law and Science

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women;

when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it;

no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.

While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.

—Judge Learned Hand, The Spirit of Liberty

As the “Arab Revolt” of the first half of 2011 unfolded, many observers were cheered by the prospect of removing tyrants and installing constitutional democracies. Other observers have noted that at this very moment there may be an “Arab Counterrevolution” underway.1This is because transforming popular uprisings into democratic and constitutionally secured regimes is far more complicated than unseating unpopular tyrants. Furthermore, many Middle Eastern countries experienced popular revolts in the 1950s. Nothing was more spectacular than Gamal Abdel Nasser’s military coup