September 7, 2021

POLB30H3: Lecture 1

A Landmark Decision

- A decision by a high court, usually the supreme court that significantly changes existing

law.

Normative Theory

- Makes an argument about how things should be rather than how they are

Interpretation

- Explains what a text means

Empirical Theory

- Explains the relationship between facts

Stare Decisis

- Legal decisions must be based on precedent (the relevant previous legal rulings)

What is the Common Law?

- The part of the law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes

What is common about Common Law?

- British system, contrasted with Civil Law (European system, rooted in

Roman Law)

- Not divine law

- Based on shared traditions of the people

- Brought feudal courts under a more uniform structure

- Applies to citizens and high-ranking officials

Legal Reasoning

- The way that judges, scholars, and lawyers attempt to persuade others what the

law ought to mean

Analogical reasoning

- compares the facts of a new case with the facts of a previously decided case in order to decide

whether the rule used in the earlier case should apply to the new one

Deductive reasoning

- shows how a conclusion necessarily follows from a series of premises

Lecture 1 September 7, 2021 notes notes notes notes

Introduction to International Relations (POLB80)