Does Law Behave? A Macrolevel Test of Black's Propositions on Change in Law

Abstract

Despite critical attention, Black's (1976) The Behavior of Law has been subjected only to limited empirical research, mostly at the microsociological level. These studies have at best provided mixed support for Black's thesis. The present study offers a more extensive, macrosociological test of his five major propositions through analysis of aggregate-level data for the U.S. from 1948 to 1985. We examine four models of longitudinal changes in the quantity of law as afunction of levels and changes in levels of the aspects of social life addressed by Black. As with previous studies, our findings offer limited support for Black's propositions. The majority of the relationships investigated do not behave as Black has posited. We offer an extended discussion of two of the more consistent findings: the relation of organization to change in law and the lack of a relationship between morphology and change in law. Whatever its strengths and weaknesses, Black's (1976) The Behavior of Law is important for encouraging sociologists to conceptualize the institution of law in quantifiable terms and to make their studies of that institution more generalizable. In brief, Black defines law as governmental social control that is variable and thus quantifiable. Through a number of propositional statements (stated formally below), he characterizes variation in the quantity of law in terms of its relation to vertical, horizontal, cultural, organizational, and normative differentiation of social life across time and space. Despite generating considerable critical debate (Eder 1977; Greenberg 1983a, 1983b; Griffith 1984; Horwitz 1983; Michaels 1978; Yngvesson 1984), Black's thesis has been subjected only to limited empirical investigation, mostly at the microsociological level. In this article, we describe the results of a more extensive examination of the five basic propositions of his book. Unlike most studies, ours focuses on macrosociological dimensions of Black's thesis. We analyze aggregate-level data for the U.S. from 1948 to 1985 to assess whether changes in each of the aspects of collective social life addressed in Black's propositions correspond to changes in the quantity of two forms of criminaljustice activity (enforcement and correction) as Black hypothesized. *The authorsgratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Juan Goni, James D. Wright, Joel Devine, Charles Brody, and Garland White on earlier drafts of this article. Direct correspondence to Joseph F. Sheley, Department of Sociology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118. i The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, March 1992, 70(3):655-678 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.127 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:55:38 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 656 / Social Forces 70:3, March 1992