Studying American Legal Culture
An Assessment of Survey Evidence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5056494 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Austin Sarat (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1977 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 427-488 |
| Publication date | 1977-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Law & Society Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3053128 |
| OpenAlex | W2331145932 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 74 |
| References cited | 68 |
This paper argues that American legal culture, specifically the complex of public attitudes toward our major legal institutions and values, is truly democratic. The most persistent, although often unexplained, theme in that complex of attitudes is the demand for equal treatment. Americans endorse the ideals of equal treatment and believe that the most glaring defect of the present legal system is its failure to provide such treatment. Yet, as de Tocqueville noted, our ideas of equality are often incomplete; the demand for equal treatment appears to be a demand for equality between oneself and those now accorded preferential treatment rather than a demand that those less favored be treated as well as oneself. Evidence in support of the argument is gathered from survey studies of public attitudes toward the police, lawyers, and courts as well as of their attitudes toward crime, punishment, and civil liberties
Criminology · Political science · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Legal Education and Practice Innovations · Psychology
The force of law
Drugs and the law
Procedural Justice, Institutional Legitimacy, and the Acceptance of Unpopular U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
Patricia Ewick und Susan Silbey
Soziologische Theorien des Rechts
Policing in Black and White
Trust in the Police
Legality, Bureaucracy, and Class in the Welfare System
Mobilizing Friends and Foes in Administrative Proceedings
Conditions leading to value-expressive effects in judgments of procedural justice
Citizen Discontent with Legal Procedures
Alternative images of the citizen
A ‘European’ Conception of Legal Consciousness
Moral Solidarity, Identification with the Community, and the Importance of Procedural Justice
Trust and Governance
Perceptions of crime seriousness in the african american community
A reason for reasonable doubt in social justice
Reducing “Acceptable” Stigmatization Through Legislation
Police leadership and legitimacy in the context of a global pandemic
Advancing equity through procedural justice
Empowering the police to fight terrorism in Israel
What do we expect from an ombudsman? Narratives of everyday engagement with the informal justice system in Germany and the UK
Loyalists, cynics and outsiders
Empirical Approaches to the Rule of Law
Improving police effectiveness in ensuring justice
Public’s views of risk assessment algorithms and pretrial decision making
Law in and Legitimacy South Africa
Critical Empiricism” in American Legal Studies
The Relationship between Legal Reasoning and Behavioral Context
La méthode expérimentale du jeu de cartes pour étudier les représentations pénales ordinaires en Allemagne et en France
The roll-off effect in judicial retention elections
Legal Adaptation among Vietanmese Refugees in the United States
Assessing public support for expanded police powers in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic
Public support for the courts
The U. S. Supreme Court and Value Legitimacy
Enhancing Police Legitimacy
Criminal Appeals Over the Last 100 Years
An Analysis of Public Attitudes Toward the Insanity Defense
Perception of Legal Inequality in Deeply Divided Societies
Police Involvement in Counter-Terrorism and Public Attitudes Towards the Police in Israel--1998-2007
Justice in many Rooms
Law and Strategy in the Divorce Lawyer's Office
Children's Images of the Supreme Court
Ideology, Scholarship, and Sociolegal Change
Taking Stock
Images of Law in Everyday Life
Street Stops and Police Legitimacy
Encounters and (in)tolerance
Decentralized enforcement in organizations
Maintaining Allegiance toward Political Authorities
The Prisoner's Perspective
Access to Justice and the Limits of Law
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Socializing the Legal Profession
An Inside View
Political Trust and Judicial Retention Elections
The Pull of the Policy Audience
The Friends and Neighbors Effect in Judicial Retention Elections
Tort Reform and Access to Justice
Three Strikes and You Are Out, but Why? The Psychology of Public Support for Punishing Rule Breakers
Conceptualizing cultural discrepancies in legal translation
Authority, Anxiety, and Procedural Justice
The Role of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Shaping Public Support for Policing
Case Processing
Socialpsychological Processes Underlying Attitudes Toward Legal Punishment
The Role of Perceived Injustice in Defendants' Evaluations of Their Courtroom Experience
The Extent and Correlates of Public Support for Deterrence Reforms and Hot Spots Policing
Market Justice, Political Justice
Migrants' Relationship with Law in the Host Country
Everyday understandings of the law in working-class America
Experiencing Court, Experiencing Race
Procedural goods in a democracy
Effects of just world beliefs on perceptions of crime perpetrators and victims
Group representation and procedural justice in multigroup decision-making bodies
Communism, conformity, and civil liberties
Justice without trial
The development of political attitudes in children
Minorities and the police
Democracy in America
A systems analysis of political life
The measurement of delinquency
Continuities and Discontinuities in Childhood and Adult Moral Development
Criminal Victimization in the United States
The Open Society in Theory and Practice
Crime and Punishment
The Rule of Law and Legal Efficacy
The Rule of Law and Legal Efficacy
Public Opinion and the Death Penalty
Legal Socialization
Laws and Moral Judgments
Civil Liberties Attitudes and Personality Measures
Legal Guarantees of Individual Freedom
Developing Senses of Law and Legal Justice
Civil Liberties and the American Public
Support for Civil Liberties among a Cohort of High School Graduates and College Students
The Idea of Right as a Social and Legal Concept
Socialization of Attitudes toward the Legal System 1
Belief in Freedom of Speech and Press
Childhood Origins of Tolerance for Dissent 1
Antidemocratic Beliefs
Public Attitudes toward Crime and Law Enforcement
Compliance and the Law
Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? A Study in Social Valuation
Comparative Legal Cultures
The development of moral judgments concerning capital punishment
A sociological perspective on public support for capital punishment
Expectations and Images
The politics of rights
Political Elites, Mass Publics, and Support for Democratic Principles
Fundamental Principles of Democracy
The Polls
The Polls
The Polls
The Polls
The Political Party Basis of Attitudes Toward the Supreme Court
Adolescent Attitudes and Lawful Behavior
The Polls
The Theory of Presidential Association
The Mobilization of Law
The Seriousness of Crimes
The Social Organization of Legal Contacts
Criminal Environment and Support for the Law
Black and White Perceptions of Justice in the City
Victimization, Types of Citizen-Police Contacts, and Attitudes Toward the Police
Kids and Cops
The Public Ordering of Private Relations Part Two
Children and Compliance
Why the "Haves" Come Out Ahead
Afterword
Alternatives in Dispute Processing
Support for Civil Liberties and Support for the Police
The Supreme Court and Authority Acceptance
Consensus and Ideology in American Politics
The Civil Law Tradition
Evaluating the Police
Fear of Crime and Fear of the Police
Public Attitudes toward a Form of White Collar Crime
Public Sense of Justice and Judicial Practice
Formal and Informal Crime Control
Violence and the Police
| Unique citing works | 74 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,51 |
| Citation span | 1977 - 2025 (49) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 71 |