Wikipedia, "Rechtsstaat" ([Internet, 2017-02-01](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat)); M. Krygier, Rule of Law (and Rechtsstaat), UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2013-52, 2013, p. 3 ([Internet, 2017-02-01](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2311874))
A Rechtsstaat is a "constitutional state" in which the exercise of governmental power is constrained by the law, and is often tied to the Anglo-American concept of the rule of law, but differs from it in that it also emphasizes what is just (i.e., a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity). Thus it is the opposite of Obrigkeitsstaat (a state based on the arbitrary use of power).