Law and Society (LWSO) 201 L01
Introduction to Legal Studies
Fall 2008
Tuesdays and Thursdays 14:00 - 15:15 ST 127

 

Instructor:	Dr. Maureen S. Hiebert
Office Location:	Social Sciences Building, room 350
Office Phone:	(403) 220-7339
E-Mail:	maureen.hiebert@ucalgary.ca
Office Hours:	Tues. 11:00-12:00; Weds. 13:00-14:00

Course Description

This course will introduce students to some of the main theoretical approaches and issues in socio-legal studies. The course is divided into three parts. After beginning with a discussion of what the law is, Part I will cover different  philosophical texts and the evolution of legal philosophy from natural law, to legal positivism and legal realism. Part II will examine contemporary approaches to the study of law and society, including the classical sociological approaches of Weber, Durkheim, and Marx, as well as critical legal studies, feminism, critical race theory, and interpretive socio-legal theories. Part III will move from theory to a discussion of the structures and processes of the legal system and the interaction between the law and society at large. This part of the course will look at the concept of the rule of law and different legal traditions in Canada and the world, constitutionalism and federalism, law-making, the role of the courts in judicial rulings and judicial review, the use of the law for controlling deviance and meting out punishment, the way in which law can (and cannot) be used to bring about social change, and finally, societal alternatives to the law. The course will primarily concentrate on Canada in comparative perspective.

Objectives of the Course

By the end of the course students should be able to critically evaluate legal philosophical and theoretical texts and a variety of other materials as well as understand the way in which the law, politics, and society influence each other and how the law in Canada and other liberal democracies is made and reformed over time.

Textbooks and Readings:

There are two required textbooks for this course. They are both available for purchase at the University of Calgary Bookstore. Please use the edition of the textbook noted below.

Readings not from the textbooks will be posted on the course Blackboard website under Course Documents.

Steven Vago and Adie Nelson, Law and Society (Second Canadian Edition) (Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008)

Jane Banfield with Dorothy Moore, Readings in Law and Society (Eigth Edition) (Toronto, Captus Press, 1999).

Assignments and Evaluation

Mid-term test: October 2, 2008 (25%)

The mid-term will consist of short answer questions. The test will cover material from the lectures and all of the readings up to September 30.

Essay (10-12 pages): December 4, 2008 (35%)

Final exam: exam period (40%)

The final exam will consist of short answer and long answer essay style questions. The final exam will be cumulative (i.e. it will cover all 13 weeks of the course) and will test students of the lectures and all of the readings.

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  YES

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

(Revised, effective September 2008)

 

	Grading Scale
A+	96-100
A	90-95.99
A -	85-89.99
B+	80-84.99
B	75-79.99
B-	70-74.99
C+	65-69.99
C	60-64.99
C-	55-59.99
D+	53-54.99
D	50-52.99
F	0-49

 

Where a grade on a particular assignment is expressed as a letter grade, it will normally be converted to a number using the midpoint of the scale.  That is, B+ would be converted to 87.5 for calculation purposes.  F will be converted to zero.

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics

Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see

The Faculty of Communication and Culture Research Ethics site: http://www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/ethics

or the University of Calgary Research Ethics site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/compliance/ethics/info/undergrad/

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS

The following topics and readings will be covered, time permitting

 

Part I Legal Theory and Philosopy

 

Week 1  What is Law; Natural Law

Sept. 9, 11

Readings:

Banfield, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Law" (Abel), pp. 2-8; "Introductory Note - Defining Law" (Wellington and Greenbaum), pp. 8-9; "Natural Law Theory (Murphy and Coleman), pp. 10-15.

Thucydides, "Melian Dialogue", History of the Peloponnesian War, 5.84-116

Plato, Crito

Aristotle, selections from The Nicomachean Ethics and The Politics

 

Week 2  Natural Law and Legal Positivism

Sept. 16, 18

Readings:

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Q. 90 The Essence of Law, Q. 94 The Natural Law, Q. 95 Human Law

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Part I chapter 13, chapter 14 par. 1-5, Part II chapter 17 par. 1-5

Edmund Burke, selections from Reflections

 

Week 3  Legal Positivism and Legal Realism

Sept. 23, 25

Readings:

Banfield, "Legal Positivism", pp. 15-24, "Legal Realism", pp. 24-26 (Murphy and Coleman)

Jeffrie G. Murphy and Jules L. Coleman, Philosophy of Law: An Introduction to Jurisprudence (Revised Edition), chapter 1, pp. 19-50

 

 

 

Part II  Law and Social Theory

 

Week 4  Classical Socio-legal Theory

Sept. 30, Oct. 2

OCTOBER 2: MID-TERM TEST

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 2, pp. 25-42

Banfield, "Law as an Index of Social Solidarity" (Durkheim), pp. 35-45; "Max Weber" (Kronman), pp. 45-55

 

Week 5  Marx and Critical Legal Theory

Oct. 7,9

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 2, pp. 43-49

Banfield, ""The Marxist Approach" (Comack), pp. 67-72

 

Week 6  Feminism and Race-based Critical Theory

Oct. 14, 16

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 2, pp. 49-58

Banfield, "The Feminist Framework" (Comack), pp. 72-77; "The Sex of Law" (Olsen), pp. 77-84

 

Week 7  Interpretive Theory

Oct, 21

Readings:

TBA

 

 

Part III  Structures and Process: Law, Politics, and Society

Week 8  Rule of Law and the Common and Civil Law Traditions

Oct. 28, 30

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 1, pp. 1-24

Banfield, "What is Law" (Hoebel), pp. 27-30); "The Differing Realms of the Law"31-34

 

Week 9  Constitutionalism, Federalism, and Law-Making

Nov. 4, 6

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 4, pp. 123-131; 135-140

Banfield, "The Canadian Political System" (Van Loon and Wittington), pp. 108-112; Distribution of Legislative Powers, pp. 112-113; Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, pp. 114-117

 

Week 10  The Courts: Judicial Opinion and Judicial Review

NO CLASS NOVEMBER 11

Nov. 13

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 3, pp. 59-87 (top); chapter 4, pp. 131-135

Banfield, "Judicial Decision-Making in General", pp. 159-164, "Judicial Decision-Making After the Charter" (Wilson), pp. 165-172

 

Week 11  Deviance and Control: Law, Crime, and Punishment

Nov. 18, 20

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 5, pp. 152-196

 

Week 12  Law and Social Change

Nov. 25, 27

Readings:

Vago and Nelson, chapter 6, pp. 246-281

Banfield, "Spousal Abuse, Children and the Courts: The Case for Social Rather Than Legal Change" (Neilson), pp. 250-260; Equality Rights and Sexual Orientation: Confronting Heterosexual Family Privilege" (Ryder), pp. 275-278

 

Week 13  Alternatives to the Law: Aboriginal Canadians and Alternative Dispute Mechanisms

Dec. 2, 4

DECEMBER 4: ESSAYS DUE IN-CLASS

Readings:

Banfied: "Alternative Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution" (Woodman), pp. 89-92; "Tribal Philosophy and the Canadian Charter of Rights (Boldt and Long), pp. 340-347; "The Community Council Project" (Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto), pp. 353-356