Alemante Gebre-Selassie: IBRL's Winds of Change

“[T]he initial question or the impetus that formed this conference came from me asking Rod Smolla, Why is it that you have the rule of law and we don’t have it in the rest of the world? ... I come from Ethiopia, a developing country where rule of law is not supreme. I was always interested, How is it that the rule of law took root in the Western countries and it does not take root much in the developing countries. Why? Why is that? I’ve always been intrigued by that.” -- Alemante Gebre-Selassie, Professor Emeritus, on the Institute of Bill of Rights Law event, Winds of Change Winds of Change: International Perspectives on the Evolution of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law. Program, International Law Society and Institute of Bill of Rights Law event, March 1990. Wolf Law Library Archives, LSA.1982.001 Established in 1982, the Institute of Bill of Rights Law (IBRL) at William & Mary Law School is known for hosting various events related to current issues in law. Speaking with IBRL director Rodney Smolla, Alemante Gebre-Selassie considered his own experiences in Ethiopia and the United States and wondered how the rule of law took hold in the latter but not the former. Professor Selassie’s question inspired this IBRL event, and the symposium articles were later published in the first volume of the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. Listen to Alemante Gebre-Selassie's oral history online.