Law and Democracy in Neil MacCormick's Legal and Political Theory

Law and Democracy in Neil MacCormick's Legal and Political Theory PDF Author: Agustín José Menéndez
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904818942X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This volume offers a collection of articles by leading legal and political theorists. Originally intended as a celebration of MacCormick’s work on the occasion of the completion of the four-volume series on Law, State and Practical Reason, it has turned into a homage and salute after MacCormick’s passing. Cast in MacCormick’s reflexive spirit, the book presents a critical reconstruction of the Scottish philosopher’s work, with the aim of revealing the connections between law and democracy in his writings and furthering his insights in each specific field. Neil MacCormick made outstanding contributions to the understanding of law and democracy under conditions of pluralism. His institutional theory of law has elucidated the close connection between the normative character of law as a means of social integration and legal social practices. This has produced a synthesis of the key insights of the legal and political theories of Kelsen, Hart, Alexy and Dworkin, and has broken new ground by undermining the ‘monolithic’ and ‘nation-state’ centered character of standard legal theories.

Law and Democracy in Neil MacCormick's Legal and Political Theory

Law and Democracy in Neil MacCormick's Legal and Political Theory PDF Author: Agustín José Menéndez
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904818942X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This volume offers a collection of articles by leading legal and political theorists. Originally intended as a celebration of MacCormick’s work on the occasion of the completion of the four-volume series on Law, State and Practical Reason, it has turned into a homage and salute after MacCormick’s passing. Cast in MacCormick’s reflexive spirit, the book presents a critical reconstruction of the Scottish philosopher’s work, with the aim of revealing the connections between law and democracy in his writings and furthering his insights in each specific field. Neil MacCormick made outstanding contributions to the understanding of law and democracy under conditions of pluralism. His institutional theory of law has elucidated the close connection between the normative character of law as a means of social integration and legal social practices. This has produced a synthesis of the key insights of the legal and political theories of Kelsen, Hart, Alexy and Dworkin, and has broken new ground by undermining the ‘monolithic’ and ‘nation-state’ centered character of standard legal theories.

Judicial Power, Democracy and Legal Positivism

Judicial Power, Democracy and Legal Positivism PDF Author: Tom D. Campbell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351924648
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
In this book, a distinguished international group of legal theorists re-examine legal positivism as a prescriptive political theory and consider its implications for the constitutionally defined roles of legislatures and courts. The issues are illustrated with recent developments in Australian constitutional law.

Constructing Legal Systems: "European Union" in Legal Theory

Constructing Legal Systems: Author: N. MacCormick
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401711526
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Legal theory has been much occupied with understanding legal systems and analysing the concept of legal system. This has usually been done on the tacit or explicit assumption that legal systems and states are co-terminous. But since the Rome Treaty there has grown up in Europe a `new legal order', neither national law nor international law, and under its sway older conceptions of state sovereignty have been rendered obsolete. At the same time, it has been doubted whether the `European Union' that has grown out of the original `European Communities' has a satisfactory constitution or any constitution at all. What kind of legal and political entity is this `Union' and how does it relate juridically and politically to its member states? Further, the activity of construing or constructing `legal system' and legal knowledge becomes visibly problematic in this context. These essays wrestle with the above problems.

Legal Right and Social Democracy

Legal Right and Social Democracy PDF Author: Neil MacCormick
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description


Law and Democracy

Law and Democracy PDF Author: Tom Campbell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 586

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Book Description
The study of law is a branch of the study of politics. Even those who emphasize the autonomy of law, either sociologically or normatively, must acknowledge that this is a position that requires justification within a broader theory of politics that either explains or justifies this autonomy. Inevitably, therefore, developments in political life and in political philosophy have a significant effect on the practice of law and its theoretical study. Currently this relationship is evident in the impact of recent developments in the practice and theory of democracy that are redolent with implications for law and legal theory. This collection represents the body of captivating literature that is engaged not only with current developments in law and politics but also with the rediscovery of traditional theories. It offers a way into an engaging and important debate that bears of the most fundamental issues within both legal and political theory.

An Institutional Theory of Law

An Institutional Theory of Law PDF Author: N. MacCormick
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401577277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description


Institutions of Law

Institutions of Law PDF Author: Neil MacCormick
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019102175X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Institutions of Law offers an original account of the nature of law and legal systems in the contemporary world. It provides the definitive statement of Sir Neil MacCormick's well-known 'institutional theory of law', defining law as 'institutional normative order' and explaining each of these three terms in depth. It attempts to fulfil the need for a twenty-first century introduction to legal theory marking a fresh start such as was achieved in the last century by H. L. A. Hart's The Concept of Law. It is written with a view to elucidating law, legal concepts and legal institutions in a manner that takes account of current scholarly controversies but does not get bogged down in them. It shows how law relates to the state and civil society, establishing the conditions of social peace and a functioning economy. In so doing, it takes account of recent developments in the sociology of law, particularly 'system theory'. It also seeks to clarify the nature of claims to 'knowledge of law' and thus indicate the possibility of legal studies having a genuinely 'scientific' character. It shows that there is an essential value-orientation of all work of this kind, so that valid analytical jurisprudence not merely need not, but cannot, be 'positivist' as that term has come to be understood. Nevertheless it is explained why law and morality are genuinely distinct by virtue of the positive character of law contrasted with the autonomy that is foundational for morality.

Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation

Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation PDF Author: Eveline T. Feteris
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9402411291
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
This book is an updated and revised edition of Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation published in 1999. It discusses new developments that have taken place in the past 15 years in research of legal argumentation, legal justification and legal interpretation, as well as the implications of these new developments for the theory of legal argumentation. Almost every chapter has been revised and updated, and the chapters include discussions of recent studies, major additions on topical issues, new perspectives, and new developments in several theoretical areas. Examples of these additions are discussions of recent developments in such areas as Habermas' theory, MacCormick's theory, Alexy's theory, Artificial Intelligence and law, and the pragma-dialectical theory of legal argumentation. Furthermore it provides an extensive and systematic overview of approaches and studies of legal argumentation in the context of legal justification in various legal systems and countries that have been important for the development of research of legal argumentation. The book contains a discussion of influential theories that conceive the law and legal justification as argumentative activity. From different disciplinary and theoretical angles it addresses such topics as the institutional characteristics of the law and the relation between general standards for moral discussions and legal standards such as the Rule of Law. It discusses patterns of legal justification in the context of different types of problems in the application of the law and it describes rules for rational legal discussions. The combination of the sound basis of the first edition and the discussions of new developments make this new edition an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the various theoretical influences which have informed the study of legal argumentation. It discusses salient backgrounds to this field as well as major approaches and trends in the contemporary research. It surveys the relevant theoretical factors both from various continental law traditions and common law countries.

A System of Rights

A System of Rights PDF Author: Rex Martin
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191520810
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
The justification of political authority is one of the long-standing issues of political philosophy, and one which persistently defies satisfactory solution. In this paperback edition of a highly successful study, Professor Martin sets out to provide an original justification by establishing a background framework for dealing with the problem. He begins by identifying the main elements of political authority, arguing that they need to be linked in order to create a political authority that can be described as justified. He then sketches a framework - a sample system of political institutions and conceptions which is internally coherent - to link these elements. The rest of the book fills in this outline. Professor Martin argues that rights are established patterns of acting or of being treated and are hence essentially institutional in character. The institutions that tend to be the most supportive and productive of individual rights are, he believes, democratic, and the central section of the book is devoted to the connection of rights with majority rule, democratic political institutions and conceptions. From this nexus, secondary lines are traced to political obligation (or allegiance) and to an eligible justification for using punishment to enforce the rights of individuals. Thus Professor Martin's analysis forms a distinctive and systematic approach to one particular style of government. This rethinking of some of the main topics in political theory is long overdue; it yields some striking conclusions about both the nature of rights and the nature of political authority itself. Reviews for the hardback edition: `analytical political theory at its best...thoroughly worked through, illuminating, and persuasive' Political Studies `he dicusses knowledgeably yet imaginatively one sort of political and legal system...I unreservedly assert that his institutional conception of rights deserves to be taken seriously as a very plausible alternative to the more familiar theories of Hart, Feinberg, Dworkin and Raz. Equally important are his discussions of the nature of democracy and the internal justification of punishment. Most impressive of all is his detailed demonstration of the internal coherence of the system of rights sketched in this book' Ethics `his book is valuable for presenting a distinctively political view of rights...the book is impressively scholarly, with references, when relevant, to most of the voluminous literature on rights. In this respect A System of Rights is a model work of philosophy: at once thoroughly steeped in the literature on its topic and rising above that literature to propose a novel, distinctive view' Mind `a rewarding and impressive book, which deals with a wide range of issues central to political philosophy in an interesting and original way. In this carefully argued examination and justification of a particular political system, Rex Martin offers an original account of rights, and links these rights with other political conceptions and institutions...to forms what he calls a "system of rights"...his discussion is rich and nuanced, and provides the philosophical groundwork for clearer thinking about the difficult and elusive relationship between rights and democracy' Canadian Journal of Political Science `What makes Martin's book so trenchant is that it can be read with great profit from different points of view...The broad scope and provocative arguments of Martin's work assure that it will be a focal point in philosophically-orientated debate on rights' Ratio Juris `Rex Martin has written the most important analysis and justification of political authority and obligation since T. H. Green's Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation... [A System of Rights is] rich in argument and unorthodox conclusions' Gerald F. Gaus, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research

Legal Reasoning and Legal Theory

Legal Reasoning and Legal Theory PDF Author: Neil MacCormick
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191018597
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
What makes an argument in a law case good or bad? Can legal decisions be justified by purely rational argument or are they ultimately determined by more subjective influences? These questions are central to the study of jurisprudence, and are thoroughly and critically examined in Legal Reasoning and Legal Theory, now with a new and up-to-date foreword. Its clarity of explanation and argument make this classic legal text readily accessible to lawyers, philosophers, and any general reader interested in legal processes, human reasoning, or practical logic.