本文嘗試探討及評價第三世界的法治發展。第三世界國家的共通點是貧窮、腐敗、政府及市場失靈。另一方面，這些國家的法律制度卻又都延襲自西方的民主憲政國家，但是所謂法治，卻無法生根。本文認為，不論是主流的西方論述或者是第三世界學者所提出的見解，都無法完全解釋法治失敗的現象。事實上，失敗的成因是多層次的，包括國際政治及經濟壓力、國內政治動亂、社會及經濟政策的失敗及封建意識的作祟等等。值此二十一世紀反恐戰爭方興未艾之際，第三世界政府似乎找到更堅強的藉口抗拒法治。

This essay discusses and evaluates the development of the rule of law in the Third World. While Third World countries share the characteristics of poverty, corruption, government and market failure, their legal systems follow the Western model of democratic constitutionalism--a colonial legacy of the Imperial powers. The so-called rule of law, the very essence of Western legal system, has never been successfully implanted in those countries. The author argues that neither the mainstream Western analyses nor the accusations made by Third World scholars provide satisfactory explanations to the phenomena. The reasons are perhaps multiple. International political and economic pressures, domestic political turmoil, failed social and economic policies as well as feudal remains of the "traditional" practices all contribute to the collapse of the rule of law in the Third World. With the ongoing anti-terrorism war, Third World governments are even more convenient to ignore the significance of the rule of law in human society.