Forces of Social Change (8)
Law and Legal Systems
Technology;
Ideology;
Competition;
Conflict;
Politics;
Economics; and
Structural strains.
3 ways technology affects the law
- Refining legal techniques: fingerprinting, lie detector, BAC equipment, etc.
- Forming and applying the law: e.g. televised hearings, etc.
- Substance of the law: new problems and conditions to which the law must respond.
ex. Automobile: Brought about new laws to control a huge volume of traffic, traffic rules, drunk driving, auto safety, driver’s license laws, pollution control, registration, insurance, etc.
ex. Computers: internet, privacy legislation, abuse of credit information laws, computer crime, identify thefts, etc.
Why might Law Change?
- a voluntary and gradual shift in community values and attitudes
- may be enacted as needed, and regulatory bodies involved when necessary
- existing laws may undergo repeal or revision
- Reactive to social change
-
How might Law Create Social Change
- environmental protection legislation changing how society functions
eg. job loss as high polluting sector are closed/defunded/restricted/heavily taxed
eg. Universal Healthcare
eg. One Child Policy in China to reduce population growth and the now heavy tax on additional children
Indirect and Direct Aspects of Law in Social Change
- Indirect
- shaping social institution which impacts society
eg. compulsory education upgraded quality of the labour force
Patent law protects the rights of inventors and encourages inventions, and makes further changes in the technological institutions - Direct
- laws that aim to effect direct change
- redefines the normative order or creates new legal procedural opportunities
eg. Prohibition
E.g. In 1999, a N.S. mother who could not afford a lawyer for a child custody/ protection hearing raised a Charter challenge.
nThe court held that s.7 provides every parent with the right to a fair hearing and in this case, it required that the mother have legal counsel to present her case effectively.
- This created new procedural opportunities in the legal system: Claims Courts, Legal aid
- this extended formal rights gives greater protection to individual rights
Friedman’s Perspectives of Change through law (2)
- Planning
- construction of new forms of social order and social interaction
- intentional
ex. 5 year plans for social and economic development - Disruption
- blocking or ameliorating existing social forms and relations
- Revolution
- litigation, injunctions and judicial review
- Requires an activist legal profession, financial resources, activist judges, genuine social movement(s), and elites must accept the results.
- Both planning and disruption can be “positive” or “negative” change, depending on your viewpoint.
- Whether the change produced is considered destructive or constructive, it is a fact that the law can be highly effective for producing social change.
The Efficacy of Law as an Instrument of Social Change (7)
Evan (1965:288) suggests if the law is going to be successful in inducing change there are 7 conditions which must be met:
1.The law must come from an authoritative and prestigious source;
- The law must introduce its rationale in terms that are understandable and compatible with existing values;
- The advocates of change should refer to other countries or communities with which the population identifies and where that law is already in effect;
- The enforcement of the law should be in a relatively short period of time;
- Those enforcing the law must be very much committed to the changes intended by the law;
- The instrumentation of the law should include positive and negative sanctions;
- Enforcement of the law should be reasonable re: the sanctions as well as in protecting the rights of those who stand to lose by violating the law.
Interrelated processes of behaviour in law (2)
- Institutionalization: establishing a norm with provisions for its enforcement
E.g. nondiscrimination in employment.
- Internalization: Incorporating the values implicit in law
E.g. discrimination is “wrong”.
Factors of the Efficacy of Law (3)
- The amount of information available about the legislation, decision or ruling.
- f there isn’t enough information about these matters, the law will not have its intended effect.
- Ignorance of the law is not excuse for disobedience, but it obviously limits the law’s effectiveness.
- The extent to which the rules are not stated precisely
- the law must be clear and not ambiguous so there are not many perceptions and interpretations.
- Rules are more likely to be accepted if they reflect notions of fairness and justice prevalent in society.
- Responsiveness of enforcement agencies to a law
- Law enforcement agencies communicate the rules and they also show that the rules should be taken seriously, and that punishment for their violation is likely.
- For law to be enforceable, the behaviour to be changed must be observable.
- Law enforcement needs to be fully committed to enforcing a new law.
- Laws must be regularly and uniformly enforced across class and group lines, so are seen as more binding than if they are only selectively enforced.
- Law enforcement agencies communicate the rules and they also show that the rules should be taken seriously, and that punishment for their violation is likely.
Types of Legitimate Authority (3)
- Traditional Authority
- Based on the sanctity of traditions;
- Based on the legitimacy of the status of those exercising authority.
- Obligation to obedience: personal loyalty.
E.g. the rule of elders.
- Charismatic Authority
- Devotion to unusual heroism or exemplary character of an individual.
- Belief in normative patterns revealed or ordained.
- This leader is obeyed because of personal trust in his or her revelations.
E.g. religious leaders (Jesus Christ, Moses, Mohammed) or political leaders (Gandhi, Mandela)
- Rational-legal Authority
- Belief in the legality of normative rules
- Belief that those persons have authority to issue commands under such rational-legal rules.
- Those exercising authority of office are obeyed because people belief in the formal legality of their commands,
but within the scope of authority of their commands
Imperative coordination:
the probability that specific commands from a given source will be obeyed by a given group of persons.
Legitimate Authority
- sense of obligation depends on society’s respect for legitimate authority
- has significant influence over actions and attitudes
- People assume that the law has the right to regulate behaviour, and so we conform with the law (obey the law because it is the law)
- accepting legitimate authority also minimizes the possibility of cognitive dissonance in how individuals interpret actions which the law says are “wrong” or morally bad.
- the law becomes a part of internalized values
The Binding Force of Law (10)
- we are taught to obey the law from a young age
- by believing in law, people obey the law
- content of law demands obedience
- law is a morally obligatory force in society
- belief that a law is just and fair because it is applied equally
- trust in the effectiveness and legitimacy of government
- see it as your civic duty
- self interest: saves effort and risk
- acceptance of authority
preference for order over disorder - habit and security
Mills 5 ways law can achieve social change
- Achieve common purpose which can’t be left to the forces of supply and demand in society (e.g. education);
- Protect the young and the helpless;
- Control the power of associations (managed by those directly interested and agents);
- Protect persons acting together in cases where such action isn’t effective without legal sanctions;
- To achieve important objects in society which is beyond the power so individuals or voluntary associations (may or may not be within their powers, and even so, wouldn’t normally be undertaken by them).
Sanctions
- used to enforce behaviour
- guarantee that legal mandates are observes
- the forcible deprivation of life, freedom, economics, and other values as a result of certain conditions
- vary with the purpose and goal of a law or legal policy
Factors for resistance to change (4)
Social
Psychological
Cultural
Economic
Social Factors of Resistance to Change
a) Vested interests
- Fear a loss of power, prestige, wealth if a new proposal gains acceptance.
b) Social class
- The privilege of the upper strata of society are jealously guarded
- Attempts to infringe on them by members of lower socio-economic groups – resented and resisted.
c) Ideological resistance
- Basic intellectual and religious assumptions about existing power, morality, welfare, security= fixed
- E.g. fierce opposition to Medicare in Saskatchewan in 1962. Doctors went on strike to protest their view that they would be reduced to the level of civil servants under “state medicine”. Bitter dispute (also based on vested interests).
d) Organized opposition
- Individual resistance to change may become mobilized into organized opposition.
- Can assume formal organizational structures Or could be channeled through a social movement, political action committees or lobbyists.
Psychological Factors of Resistance to Change
a) Habit
- difficult to break
- custom is a collective habit and slow to change when challenged
- compliance requires re-orienting values and behaviours of the target population
b) Motivation
- some motivation is based on culture
- universal motivations include the desire for prestige, economic gain, wish to comply with friendship obligations, high status, etc.
c) Ignorance
- connected to fear of the new
- Can also be a factor in noncompliance with laws if designed to reduce discriminatory practices.
- It is an important prejudice when a pre-existing attitude is so strong and inflexible that it distorts perception and judgment.
d) Selective Perception
- law is designed to be universal
- The perception of the intent of the law is selective – varying with socio-economic, cultural and demographic variables.
- People are more receptive to new ideas if they are related to their interests, attitudes, beliefs, values.
e) Moral Development
- Obedience to the laws comes, to a large extent, from moral obligation.
- product of socialization
6 stages of moral development
Stage 1: obedience and punishment orientation
- Involves deference to superior power or prestige and an orientation toward avoiding trouble
Stage 2: instrumental relativism
- People will attempt to satisfy their own needs by simple negotiation with others, or by a simple notion of equalitarianism.
Stage 3: personal concordance
- Characterized by conformity to preconceived majority beliefs where people adhere to prevailing norms.
- Based on approval and pleasing others.
Stage 4: law and order
- People are committed to “doing their duty”.
- Respectful to persons in authority
Stage 5: internalized principle orientation
- The social contract stage.
- Commitments are viewed in contractual terms.
Stage 6: individual principles
- Highest stage of moral development.
- Emphasizes conscience, mutual trust, respect as guiding principles of moral behaviour.
Cultural Factors of Resistance
a) Fatalism
- Feelings of resignation or powerlessness.
- Fatalists feel they lack control over their lives
- May believe that anything that happens to them is because of evil spirits or the work of God.
- change is initiated by people not divine intervention
b) Ethnocentrism
- see themselves as superior to others
- unlikely to adopt change initiated by other groups
c) Incompatibility
- E.g. minimum age for marriage in Canada may impose a rule of behaviour which is not compatible with the customs and habits of immigrants from other countries where marriage may be contracted at a younger age.
- When such incompatibility exists in a culture, it is more difficult to change.
d) Superstition
- Uncritical acceptance of a belief
- Not rational or substantiated by fact.
- not easily changed
Economic Factors of Resistance
- Limited economic resources are a barrier to changes that might otherwise be adopted.
- E.g. Canadians support controls on pollution, better public transportation, effective welfare programs, improvements to health care systems, and better education. But, such changes come slowly because of cost to government (taxes!)
- Resistance greater if the costs are concentrated to a smaller group. (Carbon Tax)
- If people perceive they cannot afford it, despite wanting it a lot, they will not get it.
