Abstract

Sources of law vary greatly across geography and human history. Some legal systems identify democratic lawmaking with political deliberation, while others rely on judicial process and judgemade law. This Essay argues that the normative problem of determining a hierarchy of legal sources may be usefully understood in terms of mechanism design, and that legislation and judicial precedent operate complementarily. If the ultimate policy objective is to create legal rules that reflect the "will of the people," judge-made law can function as an audit on the rules promulgated by elected legislatures. The two sources of law, working in conjunction, thereby correct the deficiencies inherent in either approach operating in isolation.

Department

Law

Subject

Law and Economics, legal education, legislation

Publication Date

2022

Journal Title

George Mason Law Review

Document Type

Article

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