Law's Limits: Rule of Law and the Supply and Demand of Rights

by Neil K. Komesar

Overview

Focusing on U.S. property rights law and the notions of private property and the Rule of Law, this book paints an unconventional picture of law and rights in general. Law and rights shift and cycle as systematic factors like increasing numbers and complexity produce tough institutional choices and unexpected combinations of goals and institutions, such as private property best protected by the unconstrained political process and communitarian values best achieved through exit and atomistic markets. These forces also frustrate attempts to export the U.S. image of rights. Although there may be an important role for law, rights and courts both in the U.S. and abroad, it can not be easily defined. This book proposes a way to define that role and to change the way we look at law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521806299
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/10/2001
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. The Basic Framework: 1. Supply and demand; 2. The spectrum of rights; 3. The supply side - the little engine of law and rights; Part II. Land Use and Rights: 4. Zoning and its discontents - political malfunction and the demand for rights; 5. Just compensation - the problems of pricing; 6. High stakes players and hidden markets; Part III. Law's Laws: 7. Theories of property: from Coase to communitarianism; 8. Numbers, complexity and the rule of law; 9. Changes; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Using the context of supply and demand, Komesar affers an analysis of rights in general and property rights in particular in the demand for and supply of the limited resources of law and the courts....For readers interested in a more provocative approach to understanding the nexus between law and society, this book will prove illuminating. Graduate level and above." Choice

From the Publisher

Komesar (law, U. of Wisconsin) examines the legal process and the laws and rights it produces, primarily in the area of court-based law and legal rights. The text explores the central issue of U.S. property law, the resolution of conflicting land uses, constitutional rights, and the serious constitutional judicial review at the heart of property rights and of constitutionalism and the Rule of Law, and the role of the courts and of law as societies became massive and complex. The author concludes with recommendations for reform in legal analysis, economic analysis, legal education, and judicial decision making. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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