Law is the system of rules that a society or government creates and enforces to regulate activities such as crime, business agreements, or social relationships. Its precise definition is a subject of longstanding debate. Law may be described as a science, an art, or a mix of both.
Often, the phrase “law” is used to refer to the body of laws in a particular geographic area; for example, “the law of New York.” The term can also be used to describe the legal profession or the field of law itself.
One important requirement of the concept of law is that it be epistemically accessible: a body of norms should be promulgated as public knowledge such that ordinary people can study and internalize them, figure out what they require of them, and use them as a framework for their plans and expectations. In addition, they should be able to access law’s protections by appealing to courts or other institutions empowered to adjudicate their disputes with others. This requires a variety of things, including the independence of courts and other legal institutions, the transparency of public business, and the integrity of legal procedures (Rubin 1989).
Law’s value to us is not just formalistic. We value it in part because it mitigates the asymmetry of political power that is an unavoidable part of being governed. A set of principles that Fuller 1964 called the inner morality of law-principles requiring that laws be general, public, prospective, coherent, clear, stable, and practicable-are recipes perhaps, but they reduce the asymmetry of legislative power and make it more congenial to legalistic concerns about clarity and predictability.
The importance of law is a central theme of jurisprudence, which studies the nature of law and the ways in which it influences human action. It is also a prominent topic in sociology and history, which explore the impact of laws on societies, as well as on individuals.
In the United States, a law is a system of rules that governs citizens and businesses. These laws are made by the legislature and enforced by the executive and judicial branches of the government. When a person breaks the law, they could face fines or even jail time. The Constitution established a framework for the United States government, known as the separation of powers, to ensure that no one person has too much power over the rest of the country. Other countries have a similar structure for their governments.