SOSC 2350 Lecture 2: Lecture 2 Law Making and Its Organization
Document Summary
A rational means for protecting the members of society from social harm (e. g. particularly criminal laws); a simplistic theory. The origin of law is traced to the emergence of an elite class. Order is temporary and unstable, because every group is competitive and trying to maximize themselves in their own interests at the expense of others since resources are limited. Coercion and inducement hold society together, comes from the state. Looked at as a negative influence that represses us. Laws, as a social control mechanism, perpetuate the advantageous positions of the elites. Maintains unequal social and economic divisions: would be vagrancy laws 1349 passed in the uk; made it an offence to sleep rough or beg (a person often in poverty) without a home or steady income. In ontario a act that is close to the vagrancy laws in the uk is safe street act . Increases when: powerful interest groups mobilize for legislative action.
