Law: Formal and Informal

Abstract This chapter discusses formal and informal law and its operation in both public and private institutions. Formal law includes rules established by an institution according to certain processes; informal law involves the unwritten, customary aspects of the legal system. Within this framework, there is the possibility of illegitimate processes, such as formal rules that are only haphazardly enforced or vigilantism and other forms of popular justice. The final part of the chapter discusses how larger, more diverse groups of people—societies of strangers—often bring with them conflicting private norms that lead to the development, and imposition, of more formal law.