The Sociological Analysis of the Legislation: the Revision of Traditional Approaches and Proposals for Contemporary Directions

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the review of traditional approaches and the development of proposals for contemporary sociological analysis of legislation. Analyzing the existing attempts of sociological analysis of legislation, the author concludes that their theoretical and methodological limitations arised from the paradigm of social facts, the dominance of structuralist-positivist research optics, the lack of practice of specific sociological research. This, in the author's opinion, contributes to the informality of the categorical apparatus of sociological research of legislation, legal reduction of the social nature of law within the sociology of law, replacement of the current role of sociologist by a social technologist who is deprived of intellectual freedom and depends on the intentions of the actors of the legislative process. Based on the «Coleman's boat» analytical scheme and J. Ritzer's integrated 4-level social analysis, the author identifies theoretical gaps in the traditional research scheme of sociological analysis of legislation at the macro-subjective and micro-objective levels. The article proposes to modernize the consideration of legislation from the standpoint of socio-cultural approach (as a socio-cultural space that produces, translates and defines a system of values, symbols, meanings, nominations, identifications, rituals, myths) and through the application of the theory of social practices. Based on the context of active legislative changes that causes the emergence of new social phenomena, the author concludes the necessity of theoretically reconstruction the sociological analysis of legislation by strengthening the concept of "social effectiveness of legislation" by risk-analytical perspective. This allows the involvement of all levels of social reality, as well as to identify the hidden and non-obvious social consequences of the introduction, change or repeal of legal norms. On the example of the analysis of the laws of Ukraine "On purififcation of power" and "On voluntary amalgamation of territorial communities" among the potential areas of social risk, the author proposes to identify areas of potential conflict, social disintegration, social inequality, discrimination, accompanying the results of legislative activity.