Law Commons^™

Bioethics Policy: Looking Beyond The Power Of Sovereign Governments (Foreword), Robert L. Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

Lawyers are trained to think in terms of power exercised by a sovereign-an institution authorized to enforce a procedurally appropriate decision with coercive force.' Generally, lawyers have a broad notion of what constitutes a sovereign. In the United States, for example, this notion includes the federal government, state governments, most tribal units, traditional territorial governments and their agencies-e.g., school boards, local public park districts, water run-off management districts, and flea abatement boards-and a host of other institutions. As a result, it is difficult for lawyers to recognize that policy also may emanate from other institutions that possess only persuasive authority, …