Quotation of the Day…

(Don Boudreaux)

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… is from page 12 of the first edition of Bruce Benson’s indispensable 1990 volume, The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State (original emphasis):

Customary law is recognized, not because it is backed by the power of some strong individual or institution, but because each individual recognizes the benefits of behaving in accordance with other individuals’ expectations, given that others also behave as he expects. Alternatively, if a minority coercively imposes law from above, then that law will require much more force to maintain social order than is required when law develops from the bottom through mutual recognition and acceptance.