Introduction The U.S. case Marbury v. Madison (1803) held that the power of a court to decide what is the meaning of the American Constitution was implicit in an independent judiciary. This power of judicial review in the U.S. was a unique feature of the U.S. constitutionalism well into the […]
Foreign Trade Definition Foreign Trade is the exchange of goods and services between nations. Goods can be defined as finished products, as intermediate goods used in producing other goods, or as agricultural products and foodstuffs. Introduction International trade enables a […]
The Sociology of Law The Eastern-European Pioneers of the Sociology of Law This section provides an overview of the following pioneers: Eugen Ehrlich Leon Petrazycki Georges Gurvitch Nicholas S. Timasheff Foundational Works in Law and Society This section provides an […]
Collectivism Definition Collectivism is a term used to denote a political or economic system in which the means of production and the distribution of goods and services are controlled by the people as a group. Generally this refers to the state. Opposite of Free Enterprise Collectivism […]
Globalisation and Law Globalisation and Europe There is an entry on globalisation in the European legal encyclopedia. Resources See Also Further Reading Entry "Globalisation" in the work "A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein", by Rodney […]
Orthodox ChurchesFor more information about this section, in the context of legal history, see the main entry in this legal encyclopedia. Protestant ChurchesFor more information about this section, in the context of legal history, see the main entry in this legal encyclopedia. The […]
DENOMINATIONALISMThe term denomination was innovated in the late seventeenth century by those groups of Christians in England who dissented from … Read more
Violence Definition Violence may be defined as a physical attack of another person. Activities that may legally involve violence include hunting, law enforcement, sports, and war. Crime includes many illegal forms of violence. The first point that has to be clarified is the meaning of the […]
Economic Discrimination Definition Economic Discrimination, refusal to do business on equal terms with members of a disfavored group. Information For information on: * legality of economic discrimination, see Discrimination * motives for economic discrimination, see Prejudice; […]
Legal Definition of Trade Dispute The term "labor dispute"is a broad one and can refer to, at least, two different groups of conflicts. The first one includes any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in […]
A typical definition of natural law which overstressed the universality of the concept was provided by Olivecrona (1971: 8): In contradistinction to positive law, 'natural law' generally means a law that has not been posited. Even if it is ascribed to the will of God, it is supposed to […]
THEOLOGY The scholarly and critical study of religious beliefs. There has been an increasing use of the social sciences within academic theology during the twentieth century. Traditionally, theologians have related to the dominant philosophies of many ages and cultures and, at least since the […]
Introduction to Sociology Sociology may be defined as the scientific study of human social relations or group life. See more definitions of Sociology in the Legal Dictionary. Other disciplines within the social sciences-including economics, political science, anthropology, and […]
GREEK AND ROMAN RELIGIONS The religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Greeks and Romans have not attracted social scientific … Read more
Religious language Religious language, especially language about God, is subject to two opposite dangers: that of associating creatures too closely … Read more
WITCHCRAFT, WITCHES (WICCA) Witches and witchcraft are associated with some of the most horrifying episodes in western European and American … Read more
VOLUNTEERISM Volunteering is the main mode by which religious and service agencies in pluralistic societies staff the so-called independent, voluntary … Read more
VATICAN II The Second Vatican Council in Roman Catholicism, 1962-1965, which was the first “ecumenical” church council of Roman Catholics … Read more
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE (1805-1859) French social theorist and politician; the outstanding classical interpreter of religion’s role in modern American democracy … Read more
TELEVANGELISM Term first used by Jeffrey K. Hadden and Charles E. Swann in Prime Time Preachers: The Rising Power of … Read more
TECHNOLOGY Application of science to the solution of human problems. The use of technology traditionally has been viewed as somewhat … Read more
SUBSIDIARITY Although now one of the core terms in Catholic social thought, to expect for the term subsidiarity any substantive … Read more
STRATIFICATION A structure of social inequality in which individuals and groups have an unequal share in the distribution of power, … Read more
SPIRITUALISM Religious and social movement based on the belief that it is possible to communicate with the deceased after their … Read more
SOUTHERNIZATION The process whereby the distinctive cultural forms associated with the American South spread to other geographic regions of the … Read more
SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION A recently published British textbook describes the task of the sociology of religion in three ways: first, … Read more
SOCIALIZATION The process by which values, norms, attitudes, and behavior, shared by the subjects who belong to a particular group, … Read more
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY A subdiscipline of both sociology and psychology, yet much of the two major disciplines is actually social psychology. … Read more
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Network-configured collectivities that seek to promote or resist political and/or cultural change on the basis of shared group … Read more
SOCIAL JUSTICE Has a long history in Western religious writings in relation to the concept of the distribution of a … Read more
SOCIAL INTEGRATION Referring primarily to how the parts of a society operate as a whole, the notion of integration has … Read more
SOCIAL CONTROL All the material and symbolic resources, including religious resources, available to a society to ensure that the behavior … Read more
SCIENCE AND RELIGION If science is defined as that body of knowledge about man and the universe that is based … Read more
SEXUALITY AND FERTILITY Religion and sexuality are cohabitors in history and across cultures (see Weber 1946:343-350). Sexuality and sexual practice … Read more
SEMINARIES AND SEMINARIANS “Seminary” (from the Latin seminarium , meaning “seed plot”) was adopted by Roman Catholic Church fathers at … Read more
As a gift, you will also receive a free limited-edition WIRED branded YubiKey, a device that adds convenient 2FA security … Read more
Adversarial System The term adversary system sometimes characterizes an entire legal process, and sometimes it refers only to criminal procedure. In the latter instance it is often used interchangeably with "accusatorial procedure,"and is juxtaposed to the […]
Statute as a Written Law "Statute, formal, written law enacted by a legislature, which may take the form of either an act or a resolution, as opposed to unwritten, or common, law, which is usually determined by custom or court decisions. In the U.S., federal and state statutes must […]
Definition of Legal Systems "A legal system is a mechanism for creating, interpreting, and enforcing laws in a given jurisdiction. The major legal systems in the world include civil law, common law, socialist law, religious law, and customary law. Most nations have incorporated aspects […]
Congress in 1889 The following information about Congress is from the Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers. Attention should be here called to the congress of Berlin, held July 13, 1878. […]