Introduction

In a series of lectures delivered at the University of Glasgow beginning in 1762, Adam Smith, the Professor of Moral Philosophy, delineated the province of jurisprudence. He defi ned it in general terms as ‘the theory of the rules by which civil governments ought to be directed’, otherwise, ‘the theory of the general principles of law and government’ (Smith 1978/1762, pp 5 and 398). This he saw as comprising four main objects: the maintenance of justice, the provision of police, the raising of revenue and the establishment of arms. What immediately strikes the modern reader of this defi nition is its breadth. He includes subjects such as taxation or police and security that obviously concern relations between state and citizen, but which are all too often viewed as purely technical areas of government. Just as importantly a theory of law and government for Smith requires that we attend not merely to matters of the defi nition or application of law, but also of how these relate to politics and the practice of governing. His approach to these questions is striking, for he approaches the topic with a method that is (in contemporary terms) both historical and sociological: that is to say that he is concerned with both the question of understanding the historical development of forms of law and government, and that of how it relates to stages of social and economic development of the society to be governed

The contemporary study of jurisprudence rarely aspires to a comparable breadth in either subject matter or method. Anglo-American jurisprudence, indeed, has for a long time been more interested in law than government, has focused more on abstract rules than institutions, and has paid only patchy attention to the historical or sociological context within which law and legal and political institutions develop. While we do not have the space here to address the question of why it has come about that the scope of province of jurisprudence has narrowed so dramatically, we would argue that the contemporary approach is too narrow and too technical. It not only risks losing the interest of students, but more importantly risks undermining the relevance of the subject itself. The aim of this book, then, is to restore some of the breadth of subject matter and method that animated the studies of our illustrious predecessor here at the University of Glasgow.