Admittedly, apart perhaps from a desire to find some place for the king in the
new constitutional order, there was no obvious reason why one should have
such a monopolistic organization of law enforcement. It certainly was not
implied in the notion of the rule of law. However, reform of the State proved a
much easier sell than replacing it with a network of organizations of selfdefence,
even if a monopoly of law enforcement invited the obvious question,
‘Who shall guard us against our guardians?’ The easy but naïve answer was to
have an Assembly of Representatives, to be elected by the people, to see to it
that the State’s executive power did not overstep the boundaries of its
legitimate activity of law enforcement. To that effect, the elected
Representatives of the People were to formulate legal rules that would bind the
State and its agents to respect for the rule of law. How the Representatives or
the people they represented should be enabled to enforce those rules against a
recalcitrant or ambitious government apparently was not an immediate
concern.28 It was hoped that having elected representatives oversee
government activities would be a sufficient guarantee in itself. In any case, the
election of representatives became a central element in the arguments for a
lawful constitution.