Term Papers on When Lawsuits Make Policy

Term Paper Title	When Lawsuits Make Policy
# of Words	3111
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	12.44

When Lawsuits Make Policy

     According to the American Heritage Dictionary, sociology is "the study of human social behavior."  In other words, to understand the world around us, we must understand the different aspects of sociology and different sociological viewpoints.  As is to be expected, there are many different viewpoints on why people or why society acts the way is does.  But there are very few who views and ideas are as prominent as such theorists as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber.  Although there viewpoints are supported by many "case studies", they do differ on some very key issues.  So it would be doing oneself a grave injustice to understand and hold as true one of these viewpoints while completely ignoring the others.  Understanding as many different ideals as possible will help in making the best interpretation when trying to understand any complex society.  One of the things that makes these three theorists work so unbelievable is the fact that they produced their works many decades ago, but much of what they believed still holds true in the modern world.  If they could publish so long ago and their theories still hold true today, there must be a good deal of validity to these ideas.  But besides that fact, and maybe even more important, these ideas and theories can help to formulate unique ideas and interpretations of the world.  We see the world through our own eyes, we all have unique experiences which develop unique ideas.  Through understanding some important ideas of the past, it will help in not only understanding the world around us, but also in developing new theories for future generations.
     The article I have chosen to unpack using Weberian, Durkheimian, and Marxian views is from the November 21st issue of "The Economist" and it is entitled "When Lawsuits Make Policy."  According to this article, the new trend in getting things done in the U.S. is through exploiting the legal system.  Things that people could not achieve previously in a democratic fashion are now being taken to the courts.  But this creates a major paradox for our strongly "democratic" society.  This takes the power out of voting and puts the power into the courtrooms and this is clearly not what the American society supports.  It has always been through democracy that things get done in this country and now that right has been undeservingly given to the courts.  The fundamental question this article answers is: Do the courts have rights to make policy?
     The two industries that are taking the biggest blows from this new trend are the tobacco industry and the weapons (particularly gun industry) industry.  Attorneys-general are using lawsuits now in their fight against these industries, addressing the same issues that have in the past been unsuccessful in Congress and the state legislatures.  What the article asks is whether it is worth sacrificing the entire democracy of the U.S. as we know it to shut down or limit the existence of such unwanted industries.
     What better way to understand the logic behind this situation than through the eyes of the a fore mentioned theorists.  There are four basic ideas which, if focused on, will reveal how the article can be understood by these theorists and in turn possibly help to form a new unique interpretation of the situation.  The first is the section explaining the tactics some Attorneys-general used in suing these corporations (see highlight labeled 1).  It basically shows the amount being sued for and plainly reveals the fact that no congressional approval is needed to file these suits.  The second part I feel is of some concern is the part about how now other mayors and states are taking similar actions to these Attorneys-general and how this new wave solution is creating somewhat of a trend (see highlight labeled 2).  This illustrates how the system of democracy is being placed on the outside.  Thirdly (highlight labeled 3), it is now creating a new way for public officials to make large profits.  Public officials will now be able to exploit a this new situation in our ...

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