{"title":"This Side of the Law: Evaluating Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Legal Compliance","authors":"Damon M. Cann, Jeff Yates","doi":"10.1080/0098261X.2020.1768184","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A fundamental concern of government is getting citizens to comply with its laws and regulations. Yet, this topic has received relatively little attention in legal or social science scholarship. We explore the degree to which people are committed to the rule of law and legal obedience. We employ a structural equation model approach to assaying the factors that influence citizens’ beliefs regarding the importance of complying with government rules. We find that citizens’ perceptions on the legitimacy of legal institutions, justice system scandals, and social capital considerations can impact citizens’ beliefs on the importance of obeying the law.","PeriodicalId":45509,"journal":{"name":"Justice System Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2020-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Justice System Journal","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0098261X.2020.1768184","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract A fundamental concern of government is getting citizens to comply with its laws and regulations. Yet, this topic has received relatively little attention in legal or social science scholarship. We explore the degree to which people are committed to the rule of law and legal obedience. We employ a structural equation model approach to assaying the factors that influence citizens’ beliefs regarding the importance of complying with government rules. We find that citizens’ perceptions on the legitimacy of legal institutions, justice system scandals, and social capital considerations can impact citizens’ beliefs on the importance of obeying the law.
期刊介绍:
The Justice System Journal is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes original research articles on all aspects of law, courts, court administration, judicial behavior, and the impact of all of these on public and social policy. Open as to methodological approaches, The Justice System Journal aims to use the latest in advanced social science research and analysis to bridge the gap between practicing and academic law, courts and politics communities. The Justice System Journal invites submission of original articles and research notes that are likely to be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of law, courts, and judicial administration, broadly defined. Articles may draw on a variety of research approaches in the social sciences. The journal does not publish articles devoted to extended analysis of legal doctrine such as a law review might publish, although short manuscripts analyzing cases or legal issues are welcome and will be considered for the Legal Notes section. The Justice System Journal was created in 1974 by the Institute for Court Management and is published under the auspices of the National Center for State Courts. The Justice System Journal features peer-reviewed research articles as well as reviews of important books in law and courts, and analytical research notes on some of the leading cases from state and federal courts. The journal periodically produces special issues that provide analysis of fundamental and timely issues on law and courts from both national and international perspectives.