The Rule of Law and Legal Efficacy: Private Values Versus General Standards

Abstract

LTHOUGH citizens do not always comply with laws they approve, a primary factor which affects the ability of a law to produce deliberate social change Xis the degree of public support for it.1 A growing literature examines and speculates on a wide range of variables which shape individual attitudes toward certain laws, and thus influence the degree of compliance,2 e.g., perceptions of the legitimacy of the law, compatibility of the law with cultural or regional norms, and attitudes toward the source of the law. The same literature examines a number of variables which might influence an individual to obey a law despite his partial or serious disagreement with it (e.g., sanctions or partiotism). While prior research rightly focuses on the role of individual attitudes as determinants of compliance, in this paper we examine a largely ignored but potentially important factor in the compliance equation -public commitment to rule of law. In Western societies particularly, there is a tendency to assume public acceptance of socially prescribed rules which members of society not only obey, but accept as general standards that should be applied equitably to all members of society. A general standard stipulates how a law is to be applied prior to and independent of the consequences of a specific application. A general standard implies that unless there are relevant differences between individuals (e.g., adults vs. minors), a law is to be applied uniformly. Non-relevant differences, such as race, however, would not be a justifiable basis for variable applications of a law.3