The Forces of Law: Duty,Coercion, and Power |
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| Authors: | Leslie Green |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Professor of the Philosophy of Law University of Oxford, and Fellow of Balliol College Professor of Law and Distinguished University Fellow, Queen's University, CanadaThanks to Damiano Canale and Giovanni Tuzet for the workshop at Bocconi University where this paper was first presented;2. to Andrew Simester and Grégoire Webber for comments on a later version;3. and especially to Fred Schauer for criticism, and for many years of friendship and discussion. |
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| Abstract: | This paper addresses the relationship between law and coercive force. It defends, against Frederick Schauer's contrary claims, the following propositions: (a) The force of law consists in three things, not one: the imposition of duties, the use of coercion, and the exercise of social power. These are different and distinct. (b) Even if coercion is not part of the concept of law, coercion is connected to law many important ways, and these are amply recognized in contemporary analytic jurisprudence. (c) We cannot determine how important coercion is to the efficacy of law until we know what counts as coercive force. The question of what counts as coercion is not a matter for generalization or stipulation. It requires an explanation of the concept of coercion. |
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