You’ve heard it said that “rule of law” means that no one is above the law, because the rulers, the people in government, are subject to the same laws as the rest of the people.  This is not correct.  “Rule of law” means, literally, that the law itself is sovereign.  The law—the document itself that constitutes the nation’s prime law—sits on the throne in place of a human being, and there are no rulers except that law.  It means what it says, literally: the law as ruler, as king.

You’ve heard it said that “self-government” means the people voting for their laws, rather than having laws imposed on them by a separate ruling class.  This is not correct.  Self-government, like rule of law, is a literal term.  It means that each person governs himself.  Take note here of the actual definition of “to govern.”  To govern is to place a limit on the action of a thing.  A torque governor prevents an engine from producing more than the prescribed maximum amount of torque.  An RPM governor prevents it from spinning faster than the prescribed RPM maximum.  To self-govern is to impose limits on one’s own actions.  The assumption of a nation of self-governing people is not that they all get together and vote for laws which they can impose on each other, but that as a matter of course each governs himself.  This he will do if the law is sovereign, the law prohibits him from imposing his will on his neighbor, and the penalties under the law are severe.