Law As Power

the first principles of law

Laws and legal systems are complex systems designed to keep the stake holders organized in a specific hierarchy while modifying the their respective behaviors.

The power pyramid is a tool to show how a system is gaining or distributing power. On it’s own law is not power. Law is used to either increase or decrease the power of the law maker or the entities the law maker assigns power to.

This is true regardless if they are applied within the context of a country, a business, or a non-profit community. The Power Pyramid meassures how much power is retained by the law-maker and how much is shared with all other stake holders.