Why Do People Obey the Law?

Throughout history some laws have shown relatively great compliance, but many have had poor compliance. They have all been laws enacted by some body of authority, so the question arises; why do some laws receive less compliance than others? To solve this question, legal scholars have developed the generalized question; why do people obey the law? There seems to be three distinct factors that affect the compliance with law that include threat of sanctions, opinion of peers, and personal morality. When trying to answer this question, most people consider an "Instrumental Perspective" and they look at how the laws themselves act upon people's lives through the threat of sanctions and by the opinions of peers. The focus is on how much deterrence exists through a law.

Psychologist Tom R. Tyler emphasizes a different perspective known as the "Normative Perspective". This way of studying compliance with the law focuses on how opinions of peers and one's personal morality affect a person's compliance with the law. Tyler describes this as when "people focus not on personal gain or loss within a given situation but on the relationship between various kinds of potential behavior and their assessments of what behavior is appropriate" (Tyler p.24). Using the example of the persistent problem of underage drinking by students, the focus of campuses is often on the "Instrumental Perspective". The "Normative Perspective" outlines the importance of legitimacy as a factor that influences personal morality, which is what colleges must focus on to maximize compliance. There are three particular methods that filter from this idea of legitimacy that improve compliance with the law that include allowing participation in the creation of law, making a clear connection between the law and the socially accepted purpose, and by having better communication with the citizens.

Participation in the Creation of Law
Much of the problem with compliance exists when a person does not feel that the law is legitimate. An example of this would be the drinking age. Many underage drinkers drink because they believe they are old enough and responsible enough to drink. The drinking age law was created by people who are well above the average college drinking age. The law essentially does not directly affect them. One reason why students have trouble agreeing with the law is because the law directly affects them but they had no say in the creation of the law. Another example is when an ordinance in a small town is enacted at a town meeting. The law, whether it is right or not, has a higher rate of compliance because the majority of the people who are affected by it had a say in the creation of the law. The law becomes more legitimate when the majority of the people take part in the creation of the law and therefore it receives more compliance.

There seems to be two reasons why participation in creating the law makes a more legitimate law in the eyes of the people. One very obvious reason is because people are motivated to choose what they want. Therefore, whether right or wrong, they are in favor of the law because they were able to choose how it would benefit them. Another reason is a more psychological viewpoint. A person more often accepts that a law is right if the majority of the people create it, because the majority is saying that it is right. The law must be seen as beneficial and as right by the majority to be considered legitimate.

Also, the law created must only affect those who are creating it in order to have maximum compliance. Using the example of underage students drinking alcohol, even if they see that the majority of people want the age to be 21, they also see that the majority of the people are above the age of 21. Consequently, the ones affected directly did not have the ability to choose what they want, and they do not think the law is right because they see that the majority is not a valid representation of them. Thus, a law needs to be created by the people, and the people that are affected by the law must be the ones who are taking part in creating it for it to be considered legitimate and for it to receive maximum compliance.

Functionality of the Law
Much of the importance of legitimacy relies on whether or not people consider the law to be functional. Like the class example where the professor makes a law that students must stand in class, the students do not comply because they do not recognize the function. There is not a clear connection between the law and the socially accepted purpose. As mentioned before, underage students drink because they believe that they are responsible enough to do so. To them, there is not an obvious purpose of the law. The law seems weak to them also because they recognize that there are plenty of people over 21 years of age that are less responsible than they are, yet they are allowed by law to drink. Since they recognize the weakness of the law, they feel that the law is not fully just, and they consequently do not have the full personal morality to follow this law. Tyler refers to this as the "internalized obligation" to follow a law. If people think that the law is not functional, they do not have this "internalized obligation" to follow it.

The functionality of law has much to do with the participation in the creation of the law as well. The law is more likely to seem functional if it is created by the people who are affected by it. Therefore, the more participation in the creation of the law contributes to the functionality of the law, which in turn increases the legitimacy of the law.

Communication with Citizens
Communication of laws to citizens is essential to the amount of compliance a law receives. First, for obvious reasons, if most of the people are unaware of the law then less people will comply with the law. Some people fail to adhere to laws because they are simply unaware that the law exists. More often they do not comply because they do not fully understand what the law is actually prohibiting.

However, simply displaying the existence of a law is not what will maximize compliance. Since much of how citizens comply with the law has to do with their perception of the law, how the lawmakers communicate the law to the citizens affected by it is very significant. It is not much different from a salesman selling a product and giving a "sales pitch" to convince the consumer to buy the product. Given that the amount that citizens participate in the creation of a law affects the legitimacy of the law, a lawmaker must communicate to the citizens that this law is what the people want. Just as explained before, if people understand that the majority of the people agree to this law than they will consider it more just. Also, the lawmaker must communicate a clear connection between the law and the socially accepted purpose. The lawmaker must convince the citizens that are affected by the law that the law is functional. They might explain what good will come out of the law that will benefit society.
People will perceive the law to be created by the people and to be functional, so they will be more likely to have an "internalized obligation" to abide by the law. The suggestion is not to lie to get people to adhere to the law, but to explain to the people why they should obey the law. In reference to underage drinking by students, authorities should communicate the purpose of certain laws to the students to further their understanding of why the laws are such. Since communicating the law to citizens in a positive manner increases the legitimacy of the law; it will in turn increase compliance with the law.

Deterrence, peer opinion, and personal morality are the three most important factors of why people obey the law. Since many threats of sanctions have been implemented over the years in reference to underage drinking on campuses with little success, and since it is difficult to control the effect of peer opinion in this manner, it is necessary for the focus to be on personal morality. Tyler's "Normative Perspective" includes the ideas of peer opinions and normative values in a direct relationship with the perceived legitimacy of a law. Participation in the creation of a law, the functionality of the law, and communicating the law to the citizens positively will increase the legitimacy of the law. The legitimacy of a law contributes to a person's "internalized obligations", which are the most powerful factors in a person's compliance with the law.