Law is the system of rules governing the behavior and relationships of people in a society. It includes both written and unwritten rules. It serves four main purposes: setting standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes and protecting rights and liberties. It also influences politics, economics, history and society in different ways.
Law can be created by a legislature, resulting in statutes; by the executive, resulting in decrees and regulations; or established through judges, resulting in common law. It can also be influenced by religion, such as in Jewish Halakha and Islamic Sharia. In these cases, the implication is that the law comes from a divine source and is inherently moral.
The nature of law is an area of intense debate, and many different theories have been proposed. For example, utilitarian theorists such as Jeremy Bentham believed that the primary purpose of the law is to benefit society as a whole. On the other hand, natural lawyers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that law reflects a moral and unchanging natural system of justice that is universally applicable.
Other important ideas about law include the idea that it is a product of socialization, the principle that people learn and behave according to the laws imposed on them by their parents, and the notion that the state should be accountable for its actions. This accountability was a major theme of Max Weber’s work and is often reflected in the design of constitutions, political parties, and constitutional systems.