Abstract

Most social scientists take for granted that law is defined by the presence of a centralized authority capable of exacting coercive penalties for violations of legal rules. Moreover, the existing approach to analyzing law in economics and positive political theory works with a very thin concept of law that does not account for the distinctive attributes of legal order as compared with other forms of social order. Drawing on a model developed elsewhere, we reinterpret key case studies to demonstrate how a theoretically informed approach illuminates questions about emergence, stability, and function of law in supporting economic and democratic growth.

Disciplines

Jurisprudence | Law | Law and Economics | Law and Society | Legal History, Theory and Process | Politics | Public Law and Legal Theory

Date of this Version

5-14-2013