The Expressive Powers of Law: Theories and Limits

335 Pages·2015·1.812 MB·English

by  Richard H. McAdams

The e xpressive p owers of Law

The expressive
powers of Law
Theories and Limits
Richard H. McAdams
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2015
Copyright © 2015 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
McAdams, Richard H., author.
The expressive powers of law: theories and limits / Richard H. McAdams.
pages cm
ISBN 978- 0- 674- 04692- 4
1. Law— Language. 2. Law— Methodology. 3. Expression. 4. Rhetoric. I. Title.
K213.M425 2014
340'.14— dc23
2014014454
For Anna

ConT enT s
List of Figures ix
Introduction: Alternatives to Deterrence and Legitimacy 1
1 Expressive Claims about Law 11
2 The Focal Point Power of Expression 22
3 Law as Focal Point 57
4 Law’s Focal Power in Dynamic Perspective 94
5 Legislation as Information 136
6 Revelation of Information by Legal Enforcement 169
7 The Power of Arbitral Expression 199
8 Normative Implications 233
Conclusion: Law’s Expressive Powers 260
Notes 263
Acknowledgments 315
Index 317

figures
1.1 Categories of Expressive Claims about Law 13
2.1 The Classic Prisoners’ Dilemma 30
2.2 The Prisoners’ Alibi Game of Pure Coordination 32
2.3 A Prisoner’s Assurance Game 33
2.4 A Prisoner’s Battle of the Sexes Game 35
2.5 A Prisoner’s Hawk- Dove Game 36
2.6 A Generic Symmetric 2×2 Game 39
2.7 PD with Embedded BOS Game 40
2.8 The BOS Intersection Game 46
2.9 Another Hawk- Dove Game 55
4.1 A Public Good Game as PD 130
4.2 A Public Good Game as Assurance 130
7.1 Another Battle of the Sexes Game 205
7.2 A Final Hawk- Dove Game 209