I would have trouble talking about the difference between American and French views of the law, or even speaking for all French people for that matter. What I

I would have trouble talking about the difference between American and French views of the law, or even speaking for all French people for that matter. What I can say is that personally, I definitely think I live in a country ruled by law. However separation of powers means there is no single entity exercising total control on this law: the executive branch proposes changes to the law, the legislative ratifies these changes (or not), and the judiciary branch is an arbiter of what happens when the existing law meets real life situations. While the limits between the executive and legislative branches can sometimes feel porous (especially when executive and legislative are controlled by a single political party, as is the case in both France and USA at the moment), the judiciary branch always felt more insular to me from the two others, at least in my country. Another linguistic nuance to think about: in French, we are "ruled by law " but not "governed by law". In French, "gouverner" (to govern) is something that people do, not laws. This is a bit of a brain dump, sorry. I wish I would have more definitive answers for you.