Sociology 2260A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Plain Meaning Rule, Amicus Curiae, Mischief Rule
Document Summary
Soc 2260 ch 4 pg 108-131 perspectives on law making. Proposes that laws are created as rational means of protecting the members of society from social harm. Most widely accepted theory but also the most simplistic. Principal dif culty is that law makers and powerful interest groups de ne what activities are harmful to the public. Concerned with how laws emerge and laws are a special kind of re- institutionalized custom. Lawmaking is the restatement of some customs and represent voice of the people. In this view con ict and competition between groups in a society actually serve to contribute to its cohesion and solidarity. Cites value diversity, unequal access to economic goods, and the resulting structural cleavages of a society as the basic determinant of laws. Origin of law traced back to emergence of an elite class class. None of these theories can account for how all laws are made legislation.