Ch. 10 The Law and Social Change

Social change is any relatively enduring alteration in social relationship behavior patterns, values, norms, and attitudes occurring over time. Sometimes they accumulate in small mutations or in huge leaps. There are those who resist social change. They either have the most to gain from the way things are or they feel psychologically threatened. Law has played a role in social change and social change has played a role in the law. One example is the thought that alcohol causes crime. This lead to the Eighteenth Amendment or Prohibition. The actual law caused the alcohol business to go underground. Organized crime sprang up from that unsavory law. Al Capone popped up as one of the most infamous criminals with a terrible reputation for bloodshed. The Valentine's Day Massacre is an example of this. Prohibition is also an example that with the best of intentions no one knows what the consequences will be from a specific action.

Constitutions are examples. Constitutions accomplish four primary objectives. First, it legalizes the existing political order and legitimizes its ideology. Second, it provides a framework for the administration of government. Third, it regulates social and institutional behavior. Lastly, it enumerates national goals and aspirations. The Soviets had four constitutions during the lifetime of the Soviet Union. Those constitutions did not necessarily guarantee political freedom. It is interesting that the Soviet Union tried to destroy the "bourgeois family" by the methods they used. Marriages in the past could be seen as paternalistic and exploited women. I do not disagree with them about that fact. It was the ways that they tried to fix that problem that amaze me. Abortion on demand, legitimized unmarried cohabitation, divorce on demand, and the encouragement of "free love" were just some of their methods. This was one of the biggest attempts to change family life, the basic structure of any society.

I am glad that our society has mostly gotten over racism that used to plague us during the Civil War times and the considerable time after that. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments made it possible for Obama to be elected president. I am also glad for the 26th amendment which allowed me to vote for the person I thought would have the best chance of leading our country.
Obama