Legal and Political Organization of Companies: State, Law, and Systems
Legal and Political Organization of Companies
The members of a social group need to understand how to act without harming others’ interests, and who has the power to manage and resolve conflicts. According to Bodin’s 16th-century concept, sovereignty implies a supreme, indivisible, native, and legally independent power. In the 18th century, Rousseau argued that sovereignty should be held by the people, with each individual having a share of popular sovereignty. This concept has become the norm in most countries since the 20th century.
There are typically three powers within a state: the legislative, executive, and judiciary. According to the theory of the separation of powers, these must be independent, perform different functions, and limit each other. The State can be defined as a territorial society with sovereign power, legal organizations, and the goal of achieving the general welfare. The three elements that characterize it are: 1) a people, 2) a territory, and 3) sovereign power.
Every organization must be legally organized within the state. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the relationship between law and the liberal model of the State. The current state, which emerged after the French Revolution, understands that the legislature represents national sovereignty. Law becomes the expression of popular will, to which every citizen and public authority must be subjected. It also recognizes that individuals possess rights and freedoms that the state must acknowledge and guarantee.
The Rule of Law and Legal System
Legal rules regulate human conduct, establishing what actions must, may, or must not be taken. These rules can impose obligations, prohibitions, or permissions. A legal rule has two elements: the factual or legal assumptions and the legal consequence. Based on their function, rules of conduct can be categorized as prescriptive, prohibitive, permissive, or organizational. Organizational rules include declarative, interpretative, procedural, and competitive rules.
A legal system is the set of rules, principles, institutions, and legal relations existing in a particular society at a given time. A legal system is considered complete when, despite regulatory gaps, it offers methods for integrating the law to resolve conflicts. A legal system is consistent when there are no contradictions between its rules. Contradictions are resolved using criteria of chronology, hierarchy, and specialty.
Differences Between Open and Closed Systems
Open systems consist of a living law, jurisprudence in continuous creation and evolution through judgments given for each case by judges or courts. Closed systems consist of written rights compiled in a body or code. The open system is characteristic of English and American law, while the closed system is found in the civil codes of continental European law.