LAW HW

Fall 2016

LLA 201: Essay Assignment #4

Instructions

1. Please follow the Essay Formatting Guidelines. These guidelines were distributed for the first

essay assignment. They apply to every essay you write in LLA 201.

2. We have been considering the everyday views of law and the courts held by ordinary people. One

common view is of law as a majestic, principled, and impartial process of governance and dispute

resolution. A second common view is of law as a political, competitive game through which all

parties seek to advance their own interests. We have also seen different accounts of how these two

common views fit together. One account claims that the two common views of law cannot co-exist

indefinitely, and that over time the political, game-centered view is bound to undermine the

impartial, majestic view. A second account maintains that the two views of law reflect basic features

of the human condition, and that the two views accurately identify the way in which law suits the

contradictory needs of those who use it.

3. Of the two accounts of how the common views of law fit together, which account do you find to

be the most persuasive? Why? Be sure to state a clear thesis and to support your answers with

arguments and evidence. Please also make sure to identify and to refute objections to your position.

Over the course of your essay and in making your overall argument, you should make sure to

describe and explain the elements that compose the two common views of law.

4. There is no outside research required or permitted for this essay. You should draw on the material

we have covered in class, with special attention to the readings from Monday, 11/14, through

Monday, 12/5.

5. Completed essays are due in discussion sections on Friday, 12/9. Please remember that in

addition to turning in a hard copy of the essay in section, each student must also submit a digital

copy of the essay to Turnitin.