Law, Society & Politics


Book Description

This book explores critical questions pertaining to the character and content of the “American People” as posited in the US Supreme Court’s interpretation of the fundamental law. What exactly is an American? Who or what comprise the People? What are the constitutive sociocultural, political, and economic ordering principles of the American People and society? How does the Court impact the nationalist character and content of law and policy? From a sociocultural, economic, political, and ideological perspective, the Court’s singular proclamations as to what the US Constitution means, what is its purpose, and how it is to be perceived and implemented have profound consequences for representational politics and notions of what exactly constitutes the American polity. This book employs a critical, conceptual, and structural approach, critically examining the notion of the People in constitutional discourse, and its impact on government, politics, law, and society in the present.




Law, Politics, and Society


Book Description

This text studies the inextricable links between law, society, and politics through an in-depth examination of the institutions for law-making in the United States, focusing on the function, structure, and participants in the process. The institutions-oriented approach focuses on contemporary coverage of the interrelationship between law and society, and includes discussion of controversial topics, such as the influence of race, class, sex, and corporate governance on the law. Law, Politics, and Society also looks at the theoretical and philosophical foundations of American law and provides comparative and international perspectives. Diversity is embedded into each chapter within the readings—drawn from a broad range of interdisciplinary sources such as sociology, history, and medicine—as well as in activities, which encourage discussion about law and race, national origin, sex, and class. In addition, excellent coverage of how the law has changed since September 11, 2001 helps students understand these complex relationships in a tangible way. Popular Culture features use a series of photographs to help students understand how law both informs and is informed by popular culture. Law in Action features apply the concepts of each chapter to an actual law in order to illustrate the central point and to help students better understand theoretical concepts. Pedagogy throughout the text includes active learning exercises, and marginal and bold definitions.




Invitation to Law & Society


Book Description

Research and real-life examples that “lucidly connect some of the divisive social issues confronting us today to that thing we call ‘the law’” (Law and Politics Book Review). Law and society is a rapidly growing field that turns the conventional view of law as mythical abstraction on its head. Kitty Calavita brilliantly brings to life the ways in which law is found not only in statutes and courtrooms but in our institutions and interactions, while inviting readers into conversations that introduce the field’s dominant themes and most lively disagreements. Deftly interweaving scholarship with familiar examples, Calavita shows how scholars in the discipline are collectively engaged in a subversive exposé of law’s public mythology. While surveying prominent issues and distinctive approaches to both law as it is written and actual legal practices, as well as the law’s potential as a tool for social change, this volume provides a view of law that is more real but just as compelling as its mythic counterpart. With this second edition of Invitation to Law and Society, Calavita brings up to date what is arguably the leading introduction to this exciting, evolving field of inquiry and adds a new chapter on the growing law and cultural studies movement. “Entertaining and conversational.” —Law and Social Inquiry




Law/Society


Book Description

A core text for the Law and Society or Sociology of Law course offered in Sociology, Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Schools of Law. * John Sutton offers an explicitly analytical perspective to the subject - how does law change? What makes law more or less effective in solving social problems? What do lawyers do? * Chapter 1 contrasts normative and sociological perspectives on law, and presents a brief primer on the logic of research and inference as it is applied to law related issues. * Theories of legal change are discussed within a common conceptual framework that highlights the explantory strengths and weaknesses of different arguments. * Discussions of "law in action" are explicitly comparative, applying a consistent model to explain the variable outcomes of civil rights legislation. * Many concrete, in-depth examples throughout the chapters.




Outer Space in Society, Politics and Law


Book Description

Spaceflight is a rational undertaking, yet full of emotions. It is a dream of mankind and a multi-billion industry likewise. It is subject to a distinct branch of law – and moreover part of modern pop culture. In short: spaceflight is fascinating. “Outer Space in society, politics and law” is an inter-disciplinary approach to the understanding of modern space law. Technical, cultural and historical aspects lay the foundation for a sound comprehension why space law norms have been established and what they mean in practice. The reader will realize the impact space and spaceflight have on society – from Stonehenge to climate change. A new approach to presenting space law: comprehensive and illustrative. “We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster.” Carl Sagan




From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law


Book Description

Analyzing the "democratic" features and institutions of the Athenian democracy in the fifth century B.C., Martin Ostwald traces their development from Solon's judicial reforms to the flowering of popular sovereignty, when the people assumed the right both to enact all legislation and to hold magistrates accountable for implementing what had been enacted.




Anarchy and Legal Order


Book Description

This book elaborates and defends law without the state. It explains why the state is illegitimate, dangerous and unnecessary.




Law, Politics and Society in Early Modern England


Book Description

Law, like religion, provided one of the principal discourses through which early-modern English people conceptualised the world in which they lived. Transcending traditional boundaries between social, legal and political history, this innovative and authoritative study examines the development of legal thought and practice from the later middle ages through to the outbreak of the English civil war, and explores the ways in which law mediated and constituted social and economic relationships within the household, the community, and the state at all levels. By arguing that English common law was essentially the creation of the wider community, it challenges many current assumptions and opens new perspectives about how early-modern society should be understood. Its magisterial scope and lucid exposition will make it essential reading for those interested in subjects ranging from high politics and constitutional theory to the history of the family, as well as the history of law.




Distorting the Law


Book Description

In recent years, stories of reckless lawyers and greedy citizens have given the legal system, and victims in general, a bad name. Many Americans have come to believe that we live in the land of the litigious, where frivolous lawsuits and absurdly high settlements reign. Scholars have argued for years that this common view of the depraved ruin of our civil legal system is a myth, but their research and statistics rarely make the news. William Haltom and Michael McCann here persuasively show how popularized distorted understandings of tort litigation (or tort tales) have been perpetuated by the mass media and reform proponents. Distorting the Law lays bare how media coverage has sensationalized lawsuits and sympathetically portrayed corporate interests, supporting big business and reinforcing negative stereotypes of law practices. Based on extensive interviews, nearly two decades of newspaper coverage, and in-depth studies of the McDonald's coffee case and tobacco litigation, Distorting the Law offers a compelling analysis of the presumed litigation crisis, the campaign for tort law reform, and the crucial role the media play in this process.




The History of Ohio Law


Book Description

In The Two-Volume The History of Ohio Law, distinguished legal historians, practicing Ohio attorneys, and judges present the history of Ohio law and the interaction between law and society in the state. The first history of Ohio law in nearly seventy years - and the most comprehensive compilation of essays on any state's law - its twenty-two topics range from the history of Ohio's constitutional conventions and legal institutions to the history of civil procedure, evidence, land use, civil liberties, and utility regulation. The essays describe Ohio's legal institutions, legal procedures, and the substance of Ohio law as it has changed over time. institutions have affected Ohio law and how the law has affected them. The essays provide important information to practitioners and offer attorneys, legal scholars, historians, and the public a broad understanding of the relationship between law and society in Ohio. intersections between law and race, gender, and labor. Insightful essays also discuss the development of Ohio's legal literature, the impact of federal courts, and Ohio's most important contributions to American constitutional development. Written by twenty-two leading lawyers and historians, The History of Ohio Law will be the indispensable reference and invaluable first source for learning about law and society in Ohio.