Reshaping Legal Authority: On Nornet And Selznick’s Responsive Law

Nonet and Selznick are important representatives of the Berkeley School in the United States.They drew a blueprint for the study of the Berkeley School.The theory of response method embodies the problem care,research methods and academic propositions of the two of them.The article takes the authoritative theory of responsive law as an entry point to explain in depth the background,formation path and specific propositions of responsive law theory.The background of the authoritative theory of response law has both realistic social care and specific theoretical responses.From the perspective of the realistic background,the responsive law is in the context of social turmoil in the United States and the crisis of Western values ??and beliefs.At that time,the root cause of the social unrest in the United States was that the United States was in a period of social transformation,and various conflicts and conflicts emerged intensively.Belief crisis means that after the secularization of the entire Western society,the evil consequences of the decline of transcendental religious beliefs begin to appear,and are concentrated in the form of a social identity crisis.Secondly,in terms of theoretical origin,Hart and Fuller are the scholars who have the greatest influence on Nonet and Selznick’s theory of response law.The theory of responsive law draws on the common spirit of Hart’s secondary rules and Fuller’s internal moral theory,and condenses it into the core of the authoritative theory of responsive law.In addition,as the ideological center of the Berkeley School,the responsive law theory of Nonet and Selznick has been deeply influenced by the Berkeley School’s research methods,advocating “to understand society in the law and to improve the law in the society”.On the whole,Nonet and Selznik’s responsive law authority theory sublates the authoritative claims of repressive law and autonomous law: they have absorbed the flexibility and adaptability of repressive law and the stability and consistency of autonomous law.It also overcomes the opportunism of the two and the inability to construct social identity and other theoretical shortcomings,so as to better deal with the modern transformation crisis in the United States and even the entire Western society.The specific content of the responsive law authority theory includes three organically connected parts: 1.The key to the transformation from autonomous law authority to responsive law authority is to protect the dominant position of legal purposes.2.The integration of legal participation and political participation constitutes the core element for the formation of responsive legal authority.3.The legitimacy of legal institutions should shift from seeking fairness to building their own capabilities.Of course,Nonet and Selznik’s responsive law authority claims still have inherent theoretical flaws.They cannot guarantee the realization of substantive justice,and the legal and political participation requirements advocated are also difficult to achieve in reality.The classical theory of social authority has made significant developments,and at the same time profoundly inspired the famous reflexive law proposition.