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Full-Text Articles in Rule of Law

The Theory Of Law “As Claim” And The Inquiry Into The Sources Of Law. Bruno Leoni In Prospect, Daniele Bertolini Jan 2015

The Theory Of Law “As Claim” And The Inquiry Into The Sources Of Law. Bruno Leoni In Prospect, Daniele Bertolini

daniele bertolini

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the theory of law "as claim" through a critical review of Bruno Leoni’s work. I argue that this philosophical theory provides a useful methodological framework for the analysis of law-making processes. I also demonstrate how Leoni’s critique of legislation offers insights into the efficient institutional response to the growing demand for law that has emerged from the increasing complexity of contemporary societies — insights that are particularly relevant in an age characterized by continuing technological changes and profound social mutations that challenge the existing organization of the sources of law. Finally, I contend …


Collective Choice, Justin Schwartz Jan 2011

Collective Choice, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

This short nontechnical article reviews the Arrow Impossibility Theorem and its implications for rational democratic decisionmaking. In the 1950s, economist Kenneth J. Arrow proved that no method for producing a unique social choice involving at least three choices and three actors could satisfy four seemingly obvious constraints that are practically constitutive of democratic decisionmaking. Any such method must violate such a constraint and risks leading to disturbingly irrational results such and Condorcet cycling. I explain the theorem in plain, nonmathematical language, and discuss the history, range, and prospects of avoiding what seems like a fundamental theoretical challenge to the possibility …


Law As Largess: Shifting Paradigms Of Law For The Poor, Deborah M. Weissman Dec 2002

Law As Largess: Shifting Paradigms Of Law For The Poor, Deborah M. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

The article examines the tension between the principles of the Rule of Law and cultural norms of self-sufficiency. It begins by reviewing the principles of the Rule of Law as an ideal, the pursuit of which has led to historical efforts to meet the legal needs of the poor. It then examines recent legal events including federal statutory changes, three Supreme Court cases, and a federal circuit court case which have limited legal resources for those who cannot pay. The article then examines these developments in the context of a sea-change in the political environment of the nation, coinciding with …