Law in terms of the challenges of the present times

Abstract The democratic state of law, despite being formed as an exemplary model of liberal democracy, has been facing challenges in recent years that prompt reflection on the formation of the state system through the prism of the theory and philosophy of law. This work asks to what extent the formation of the legal order from the point of view of the theory and philosophy of law may influence the durability of democracy or its lack, especially in countries where the democratic system was introduced only after 1989. The author concludes that the current point in the development of the democratic system defining it is a turning point at which the current balance of legal structures of the democratic system should be redefined. The proposed solution is to implement the modified legal concept of the social contract by John Rawls into post-war liberalism. The combination of trends currently present in liberal democracies and the theory of John Rawls, according to the author, should lead to the strengthening of the democratic system in the European Union countries and weaken authoritarian systems by preventing the use of the weaknesses of democracy to pursue their particular interests.