. . . a distinct broad but compelling framework for examining a variety of laws and social policies. --Legal Studies Forum . . . a very rich volume that has something to offer to many different tastes . . . an excellent companion to the main textbook in a large undergraduate law-and-society course. --Contemporary Sociology No issue has captured the imagination of social scientists and legal scholars more consistently than the creation of laws. The political implications of the study of law and society often create ideological diatribes with little attention to empirical detail. In this book legal scholars sociologists political scientists and anthropologists join in an attempt to develop and refine a structural theory of law.