Why Law Matters argues that public institutions and legal procedures are valuable and matter as such, irrespective of their instrumental value. Examining the value of rights, public institutions, and constitutional review, the book criticises instrumentalist approaches in political theory, claiming they fail to account for their enduring appeal.

This highly original work demonstrates the fundamental role of customary law for the realization of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for sound national and international legal governance. The book reviews the legal status of customary law and its relationship with positive and natural law from the time of Plato up to the present. It examines its growing recognition in constitutional and international law and its dependence on and at times strained relationship with human rights law. The author analyzes the role of customary law in tribal, national and international governance of Indigenous peoples’ lands, resources and cultural heritage. He explores the challenges and opportunities for its recognition by courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including issues of proof of law and conflicts between customary practices and human rights. He throws light on the richness inherent in legal diversity and key principles of customary law and their influence in legal practice and on emerging notions of intercultural equity and justice. He concludes that Indigenous peoples’ rights to their customary legal regimes and states’ obligations to respect and recognize customary law, in order to secure their human rights, are principles of international customary law, and as such binding on all states. At a time when the self-determination, land, resources and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples are increasingly under threat, this accessible book presents the key issues for both legal and non-legal scholars, practitioners, students of human rights and environmental justice, and Indigenous peoples themselves.

With dynamic learning features and visual aids, the Inside Series helps you make the most of your study time, throughout the semester and as you prepare for the final. Unlike heavily abridged treatises, the Inside Series is carefully written in a concise, straightforward style that clearly identifies the essential components of the law and how they fit together. You can quickly learn what is important and why. Overviews and Tables of Contents in each chapter act as a roadmap to guide you through topics, showing you how each relates to the larger legal framework. FAQs clarify points of law and help you avoid common mistakes and misconceptions. Sidebars give fascinating additional detail from legal history, policy, famous cases and more. The graphic design supports your visual learning, and features such as bolded key terms, summaries, and Connections help reinforce your understanding while giving you ample opportunity for self-review. Surprisingly concise, visually compelling, the Inside Series is extremely useful throughout the semester to help you identify the essential components of the law and how they fit together. Comprehensive coverage of the essential topics emphasizes what you need to know and why. Clear, straightforward, informal writing explains every topic for you without over-simplifying the concepts. Overviews and Tables of Contents in each chapter act as a roadmap to guide you through topics, showing you why each matters and how it fits into the larger framework of the law. FAQs clarify points of law and help you avoid common mistakes and misconceptions. Sidebars enrich the text with fascinating detail from legal history, policy, famous cases and more. Bolded key terms, Connections and summaries reinforce your understanding and give you ample opportunity for self-review. The overall graphical design of the series supports your visual learning.

With dynamic learning features and visual aids, the Inside Series helps you make the most of your study time, throughout the semester and as you prepare for the final. Unlike heavily abridged treatises, the Inside Series is carefully written in a concise, straightforward style that clearly identifies the essential components of the law and how they fit together. You can quickly learn what is important and why. Overviews and Tables of Contents in each chapter act as a roadmap to guide you through topics, showing you how each relates to the larger legal framework. FAQs clarify points of law and help you avoid common mistakes and misconceptions. Sidebars give fascinating additional detail from legal history, policy, famous cases and more. The graphic design supports your visual learning, and features such as bolded key terms, summaries, and Connections help reinforce your understanding while giving you ample opportunity for self-review. Surprisingly concise, visually compelling, the Inside Series is extremely useful throughout the semester to help you identify the essential components of the law and how they fit together. Comprehensive coverage of the essential topics emphasizes what you need to know and why. Clear, straightforward, informal writing explains every topic for you without over-simplifying the concepts. Overviews and Tables of Contents in each chapter act as a roadmap to guide you through topics, showing you why each matters and how it fits into the larger framework of the law. FAQs clarify points of law and help you avoid common mistakes and misconceptions. Sidebars enrich the text with fascinating detail from legal history, policy, famous cases and more. Bolded key terms, Connections and summaries reinforce your understanding and give you ample opportunity for self-review. The overall graphical design of the series supports your visual learning.

Publisher Fact Sheet Examines the relationship between economics & the law.

Americans claim to care about character. Over four fifths want it taught in public schools, and 95 percent think that a president's character is important. And historically, philosophers, educators, politicians, religious leaders, judges, and the general public have agreed that character should be valued and reinforced. Yet in the United States, the institutions charged with that mission have consistently fallen short. Simply put, too little effort has been made to understand the importance of character and the strategies that can best develop and support it. After first exploring the history of the concept over time, Deborah Rhode turns her focus to the institutions that have traditionally fostered good character: families, schools, youth organizations, civic groups, and political organizations. However, as we have increasingly de-emphasized the subject-a trend that is most evident in our politics-our awareness of its shaping influence has waned. Indeed, we often focus on the wrong things when it comes to fostering good character. For instance, almost a third of the workforce is covered by licensing laws requiring good moral character, even occupations where the need for screening is not self-evident: florist, fortune teller, and frog farmers. Character also plays a pivotal role in the criminal justice system, in defining guilt, punishment, and eligibility for parole. All too often, these legal requirements are idiosyncratic, inequitable, and subject to race and class bias. Millions of Americans who have convictions for minor offenses are excluded from a vast range of occupations and benefits without evidence that such exclusion serves the public interest. We can do better, she stresses, and outlines a powerful program for reform. Rhode punctuates the book through a series of portraits of exemplary individuals whose good character made them who they were: Ida B. Wells, Jane Addams, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Albert Schweitzer, and Thurgood Marshall. All of these individuals had flaws, but through their commitments to both social justice and helping the less fortunate, they all demonstrate the power and importance of strong character.

In 1996, Guillermo O’Donnell taught a seminar at the University of Notre Dame on democratic theory. One of the questions explored in this class was whether it is possible to define and determine the “quality” of democracy. Jorge Vargas Cullell, a student in this course, returned to his native country of Costa Rica, formed a small research team, and secured funding for undertaking a “citizen audit” of the quality of democracy in Costa Rica. This pathbreaking volume contains O’Donnell’s qualitative theoretical study of the quality of democracy and Vargas Cullell’s description and analysis of the empirical data he gathered on the quality of democracy in Costa Rica. It also includes twelve short, scholarly reflections on the O’Donnell and Cullell essays. The primary goal of this collection is to present the rationale and methodology for implementing a citizen audit of democracy. This book is an expression of a growing concern among policy experts and academics that the recent emergence of numerous democratic regimes, particularly in Latin America, cannot conceal the sobering fact that the efficacy and impact of these new governments vary widely. These variations, which range from acceptable to dismal, have serious consequences for the people of Latin America, many of whom have received few if any benefits from democratization. Attempts to gauge the quality of particular democracies are therefore not only fascinating intellectual exercises but may also be useful practical guides for improving both old and new democracies. This book will make important strides in addressing the increasing practical and academic concerns about the quality of democracy. It will be required reading for political scientists, policy analysts, and Latin Americanists.