Michael Barkun

An interesting essay finding parallels between primitive and international laws, and appears to argue that law is a cultural universal (although he never states this so bluntly). He critiques the command and sanction theories of law (p. 157), instead viewing Law as a "system of manipulable symbols that functions as a representation, as a model, of social structure" (p. 92). He later restates this definition: "the function of law in the most general sense is to make human actions conform to predictable patterns so that contemplated actions can go forward with some hope of achieving a rational relationship between means and end" (p. 154).

Barkun speaks of the transition from patterned behavior to binding norm (p. 90); offers an interesting discussion of legal fictions as a means "to conceal the fact that a rule of law has undergone alteration, its letter remaining unchanged, its operation being modified" (p. 124), in such way what would otherwise be exceptions to the rule now fall under it, but as a result the rule's center of gravity shifts, thus eventually changing the rule itself while preserving the appearance of stability.… (meer)