Full Description
A core text for the Law and Society or Sociology of Law course offered in Sociology, Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Schools of Law. · John Sutton offers an explicitly analytical perspective to the subject - how does law change? What makes law more or less effective in solving social problems? What do lawyers do? · Chapter 1 contrasts normative and sociological perspectives on law, and presents a brief primer on the logic of research and inference as it is applied to law related issues. · Theories of legal change are discussed within a common conceptual framework that highlights the explantory strengths and weaknesses of different arguments. · Discussions of "law in action" are explicitly comparative, applying a consistent model to explain the variable outcomes of civil rights legislation. · Many concrete, in-depth examples throughout the chapters.
Contents
An Introduction to the Sociology of Law
PART ONE: LEGAL CHANGE
Evolutionary Theories of Legal Change
Maine and Durkheim
Law, Class Conflict and the Economy
Marxian Theory
Law and the State
Max Weber's Sociology of Law
The Problem of Law in the Activist State
PART TWO: LEGAL ACTION
Voting Rights and School Desegregation
Equal Employment Opportunity
PART THREE: THE LEGAL PROFESSION
Law as a Profession
The Transformation of Legal Practice in the Late 20th Century
