Legal structures both express and reinforce the distribution of power
Evidence
The structural features of the legal system reflect the distribution of power and, at the same time, influence or perpetuate power. A good distribution for one purpose is a bad one for another purpose. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3798
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Law as rules differs from the legal system of structures and processes. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 51; Hidden legal structures quietly lock in existing social and economic conditions — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1340; Rule of law makes power context-free and universally mobilizable — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 673 (+17 more)
Broader Connections
- Law creates legitimacy structurally by formatting power-holders into chains of mutual recourse
#exemplifies(0.85) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 674 - A legal contract channels stored political power toward private purposes
#exemplifies(0.84) - Rule of law makes power context-free and universally mobilizable
#expands(0.82) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 673 - Obligation-credit structures concentrate power in hierarchical and stratified settings.
#expands(0.82) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 92 - Legal major premises derive authority from constitutional text or statutes
#expands(0.82) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 242 - Legal codes constitute subjects through their performative, homogenizing power
#expands(0.80) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 264 - Juridical systems of power discursively produce the subjects they claim to represent
#expands(0.80) - Powerful groups dominate space through legal and illegal means
#corroborates(0.80) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1396 - Power includes the ability to define contexts of public life
#expands(0.78) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 159 - Structural constitutional rules resist change despite eroding functional justification
#exemplifies(0.76) - Legalism paradoxically disables the power it aims to secure
#complicates(0.74) — Chuck Missler, The Kingdom, Power and Glory, 1228 - Religion functions as the enabling power behind a preferential legal system
#expands(0.72) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1014 - Court structure shapes which policy issues a supreme court can address.
#exemplifies(0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 441 - Law emerges when a secondary rule separates legal rules from social rules
#complicates(0.72) — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 59