Polarization, Precedent and Rule of Law

Abstract Analysis of a cultural feature that has an adverse effect on the development of a consistent practice of respect for precedent, such as the growing social, political and ideological polarization that degrades its civic culture. The author presents the idea that the implementation and consolidation of a system that requires following previous decisions as a determining argument for the resolution of current cases, requires not only an adequate systematization of classic problems such as the strength and scope of precedents. It is also necessary to adapt certain cultural guidelines, such as society’s relationship with its past, citizens’ perception of the role of the judiciary and of the law itself, tolerance of ideological differences as a method of settling fundamental problems in a pluralistic society, the willingness to adjust our ambitions to established rules, the inclination to interpret and apply those rules in good faith, among others.