Conceptual interpretations of law in foreign sociology and their importance for effective public administration

Abstract

The goal of this research lies in determination of the core philosophical-legal concepts in foreign social philosophy and sociology, which are relevant in modern era for the effective solution of political and administrative tasks. The article examines the views of the prominent foreign philosophers and theoreticians in the field of sociology of law (M. Weber, E. Durkheim, H. Kelsen, D. Nelken, D. Balkin, and others). In light of the uniqueness of their views, they can be encapsulated into the following perspectives: law is the order of relations between people who comprise the society, i.e. social order; politics is one of the regulators of social order, determines the relations between the government and individuals; such political order alongside the economy and culture is one of the three global social systems that are closely intertwined with each other and permanently affect each other. The essence of sociological interpretation of legal ideas can be formulated in three positions: 1) law should be understood as an aspect of social relations, since it is utterly associated with coexistence of individuals in social groups; 2) social phenomena of law should be viewed empirically, through detailed consideration of variability and continuity of social coexistence in the actual historical models, rather than in respect of idealized or abstractly imagined social conditions; 3) social phenomena should be examined systematically: from the empirical fact of social reality to socio-philosophical theory. Sociological comprehension of legal ideas methodologically expresses the own disparate and diverse characteristics of law. It must inform about the legal ideas and provide their interpretation for solving particular tasks of politics and public administration.