One of the most noteworthy issues in the construction of the rule of law in China is the lack of consensus among members of society in the field of the rule of law. Disagreements among social members on the issue of the rule of law are embodied in a concentrated way in the conflict between two outlooks on the rule of law:idealist and pragmatist. The idealist outlook on the rule of law constitutes of three branches:simple, paranoid and rational idealist outlooks; comparably, the pragmatist outlook on the rule of law can also be divided into three branches:simple, indulgent and rational pragmatist outlooks. Intellectual barriers in social propagation and communication of legal knowledge are a direct reason of the formation of and contribute directly to the conflicts between the two different outlooks on the rule of law. These intellectual barriers distort the true features of the law-based governance, and consequently breed disagreement on the concept of the rule of law. For these reasons, it is necessary to re-enlighten the Chinese people on the rule of law, so as to deepen their understanding of the rule of law and of true features of a law-based government, which is the foundation of a social consensus on the rule of law. |