NCJ Number
120126
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1989) Pages: 273-285
Date Published
1989
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Those who claim that a crisis exists in the ability of the rule of law to enforce social control fail to differentiate among the aims and goals of regulatory laws and to employ an historical analysis.
Abstract
In order to understand the limits and the effectiveness of regulation by law, legal researchers should use an historically-oriented analysis in examining the multiplicity of legal regulations. Then, they can develop a set of categories that can be applied to historical material to identify changes in the scope of legal forms and to evaluate the effectiveness of legal forms employed in the past. Only by using this method of research can contemporary regulatory problems be discovered and evaluated. Additionally, researchers must study how new social issues are internalized within law and are treated differently in legal practice as well as in legal doctrine, legislation, and administrative and judicial practice. 4 footnotes.