American Law: Chapter 1 - What Is a Legal System?

Vocabulary flashcards defining core terms, legal theories, and structural concepts from Chapter 1 of American Law: An Introduction (Third Edition).

Governmental Social Control

Donald Black's definition of law in 'The Behavior of Law', describing official, state-backed social rules and processes designed to encourage good conduct or discourage bad conduct.

Civil Justice

The branch of the legal system governing non-criminal matters, such as contracts and torts, which is larger in size and scope than criminal justice.

Facilitative Law

Bodies of law, such as contracts or wills, that provide standard routines and methods to help individuals achieve desirable goals safely and efficiently, rather than forbidding or punishing.

Primary Rules

In H. L. A. Hart's legal framework, the rules that directly govern actual human behavior, such as prohibitions against burglary or speeding.

Secondary Rules

In H. L. A. Hart's legal framework, 'rules about rules' that dictate how primary rules are created, recognized, modified, or enforced.

Living Law

The dynamic, actual practice and application of legal rules in daily life, distinguished from unenforced 'dead letter' laws.

Structure of a Legal System

The persistent, long-term framework or skeleton of a legal system, including court organizations, jurisdictions, legislative bodies, and procedural rules.

Substance of a Legal System

The actual rules, working patterns, decisions, and output produced by institutions and actors within the legal system.

Legal Culture

The body of attitudes, values, beliefs, ideas, and expectations that people hold toward the legal system and its processes.

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

A U.S. Supreme Court decision where a 5-to-4 majority struck down existing state death-penalty laws on Eighth Amendment constitutional grounds.

Dispute Settlement

A legal system function defined by Richard L. Abel as resolving public assertions of inconsistent claims over something of value between individuals or private entities.

Conflict Resolution

The function of the legal system, largely carried out by legislatures, aimed at settling broad macro-disagreements between large social groups or classes.

Social Engineering

The redistributive function of law used by government to deliberately guide social change and allocate resources, benefits, or burdens.

Social Maintenance

The function of the legal system that protects the status quo, enforces property rights, and preserves existing economic and social structures.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to evaluate actions of other government branches or authorities and nullify those that exceed constitutional boundaries.

Claims of Right

Legal demands or lawsuits brought by private citizens or companies against government bodies to correct administrative errors or prevent abuses of power.