POLS 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Communes Of France, Monism, Legal Formalism
20 Jul 2013
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Document Summary
The spread of western conceptions of law around the world is a consequence of the spread of western ideas of the state. Western states arrogated to themselves exclusive responsibility for issuing such rules as laws, and they also codified them for the sake of consistency of application. This monopoly on legislative activity is another essential feature of the modern state. Legal positivism law is what the state says it is. It can be said for both law and politics that its primary concern is the authoritative allocation of values in society. For laws to be legitimate (accepted by citizens) states have established rules of procedure. The law also establishes what is criminal behaviour, it prescribes punishments and it provides impartial rules for binding adjudication in disputes. The legal system is a check upon the exercise of power by the executive. In the broad sense constitution denotes the overall structure of a state"s political system.
