Rule by decree severs justification from principle, making power itself the source of law.

Evidence

A rule can never be binding just because some person with physical power wants it to be so. He must have authority to issue the rule or it is no rule, and such authority can only come from another rule which is already binding on those to whom he speaks. That is the difference between a valid law and the orders of a gunman. — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 48 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A ruler who makes law objectively subordinates himself to that law.; Legal validity derives from normative authority, not from physical power alone. — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 48; Laws meant to enhance freedom can themselves create new arbitrary power. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 56

Related

• Legal validity derives from normative authority, not from physical power alone. (similarity 0.85)
• A rule differs from an order, among other ways, by being normative, by setting a standard of behavior that has a call on its subject beyond the threat that may enforce it. A rule can never be… (similarity 0.81)
• Authority builds from accumulated past compliance without requiring ongoing justification (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Legal validity derives from normative authority, not from physical power alone. #contradicts (0.85) — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 48
• A ruler who makes law objectively subordinates himself to that law. #contradicts (0.80)