UNLP - Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales
Taller de lectocomprensión en idioma 1 (inglés)
Trabajo Práctico 1
Trabajo Práctico 1
1. Read the abstract below, from the article entitled “The Expressive Function of Law and the
Lex Imperfecta”. Can you identify any of its moves (parts)? Decide where they begin and
end.
The Expressive Function of Law and the Lex Imperfecta
Thomas A. J. McGinn
Abstract — Legal scholars have developed the thesis that a law may convey a social
meaning that reinforces or changes the norms of a community, beyond its role in
establishing and enforcing rules. This is described as the expressive function of law. It is
associated with the University of Chicago, though its adherents are spread more widely.
At its core it invites us to consider how rules alter the social meaning of behavior, and in
its more muscular forms it acknowledges and even promotes laws that create new norms
of behavior. The ways in which individual scholars treat collective action problems,
rational choice, and the role of government, vary considerably, however. This article
suggests that the Romans themselves implicitly recognized the expressive function of
law and indeed employed it with success. The principal example is the lex imperfecta.
This is a term from antiquity, somewhat disputed, used to describe a statute that prohibits
or discourages behavior without assigning a penalty or otherwise voiding the effects of
the underlying acts. Other examples from antiquity are considered also.
2. Now look at the text again and answer the following questions:
a. According to this author, do legal scholars in general believe that the only role that
the law plays in society is establishing and enforcing rules? Support your answer with
information from the abstract.
b. What is the lex imperfecta an example of?
3. Can you find an example of a simple sentence in the abstract?
4. Can you find examples of present simple, past simple and present perfect verbs in the
abstract? If there are any, please list them and identify their subjects.
UNLP - Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales
Taller de lectocomprensión en idioma 1 (inglés)
Trabajo Práctico 1
5. Now let’s concentrate on section III (What is a norm?) from the text. Read this section and
answer the questions below.
a. Why could the concept of “norm” be considered problematic?
b. What do scholars generally agree on when it comes to defining norms?
III. What is a norm?
At this point it might be useful to offer a few reflections on what we mean by “norm” in
this context. It is an almost inherently ambiguous word. One reason is that it commonly
describes routine behaviour — what most people do most of the time — so that it has a
descriptive sense, and it also commonly refers to what people ought to be doing, in this
way synonymously with “rule,” so that it has a prescriptive sense. Partly for this reason, it
is hardly surprising that expressive law theorists define “norm” in different ways. The good
news is that they tend to recognize this fact explicitly, which makes it easier to discount
some of their differences and proceed to generalize.
Most would define a “norm” in something like the following terms: a non-legal rule
supported by a pattern of informal, meaning again non-legal, sanctions. These sanctions
include public shaming, criticism, even ostracism, directed at the norm- breaker as well
as feelings of guilt and/or shame that arise on the part of the norm-breaker. As one can
see, there are two basic categories of impact. Different scholars describe them in
different ways; one for example distinguishes between second and third order effects,
with the second applying to the external level, the third to the internal, while another
describes the difference in terms of “objective” and “subjective,” and another between
controlling behaviour directly and indirectly. The relationship between these two
categories is perhaps more complex than at first it might appear, in that reputation can
have an impact on status and that, in turn, might influence the attitudes individuals hold
about respecting norms. Either one may be in play at any given time, or both.
Much of the discussion focuses on the question of internalization, which concerns
law’s role in both reinforcing and altering social norms. It can refer to either of the two
categories of effects just described, though it seems to receive more attention on the
subjective level. In any case what is crucial here is the question of a change in social
meaning. How does the law encourage people to take an existing norm more seriously, to
adopt a new norm, or to reject a bad one? The NCS recognizes that some norms are more
resistant to change than others, but has no generally accepted theory on how
internalization works.
6. Now let’s focus on language and how it is used in the text. Look at the chart below and
analyze the verbs in bold.
UNLP - Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales
Taller de lectocomprensión en idioma 1 (inglés)
Trabajo Práctico 1
Example Is it finite or What tense (if finite) is it in? What
non-finite? kind of non-finite verb is it?
it commonly describes routines…
a non-legal rule supported by a
pattern…
but has no generally accepted
theory…
7. Look at the fragment from section III below. There are some words which have been
highlighted for you to analyze. Can you identify their category? Are they nouns, verbs, etc.?
“One reason is that it commonly describes routine behavior - what most people do most of
the time - so that it has a descriptive sense, and it also commonly refers to what people
ought to be doing, in this way synonymously with “rule”, so that it has a prescriptive sense.”
example category example category example category
reason do it
commonly descriptive to
this so a
