Witteveen, Willem J.

Dr. Willem J. Witteveen is Professor of Jurisprudence at the Law School ofTilburg University, The Netherlands. His research interests include legal rhetoric and semiotics, law and literature, legislative studies, and the rule of law. He wrote six books (in Dutch) and edited a book on the relevance of the legal theory of Lon Fuller (in English). Dr. Witteveen is a member of the Senate of the Netherlands.

Social and Symbolic Effects of Legislation Under the Rule of Law

2005 0-7734-6164-7
This book addresses a set of intriguing and complex questions in the study of law and society. How does legislation affect the behavior of citizens? What role do attitudes play in rule following and under what conditions can legislation influence these attitudes? The book juxtaposes two approaches to this set of questions. The social working approach is an exercise in empirical sociology of law, seeking a behavioral explanation of rule- following. The communicative approach to legislation investigates legislation as a communication process in both an empirical and a normative sense. The ensuing debate sheds light on the uses and dangers of legislation as an instrument of democratic governance under the rule of law.