Legal System: From the perspective of social sciences

Author: Lawrence M. Friedman
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Features: There are many introductory books about the nature, practice, or history of law. Some of these focus on the law of a single country, while others claim to cover a broader scope. Most of these books are naturally written by lawyers, so they reflect the perspective of lawyers. Of course, people can observe law from many aspects. Lawyers mostly observe it from the inside. They judge law according to legal principles, learn certain standards to measure legal practice and rules. They write about practical matters, such as how to apply law, how to act according to law. This book belongs to another type. It observes law from the outside. It attempts to treat the legal system from the perspective of the social sciences, basically believing that law is just one of many social systems, and other social systems in society give it meaning and function. This book discusses general law, but since every society has its own legal system, this book is most suitable for the legal system of the United States. The author is very familiar with this system, and people may study American law more than other laws. However, the social sciences believe that its effectiveness extends beyond a specific culture. This book incorporates research on many legal systems from different periods. Any experiment or research must be rigorous and precise, requiring comparisons across space and time. Legal systems are vast, and there are many aspects. The chapters below only reflect some of these aspects, and no one can discuss the entire law of a country, let alone the entire law of many countries. The author discusses here the aspects of law that he believes are helpful to understanding law from the perspective of social research. There are other perspectives, other aspects. What is omitted will not be lost in darkness.