Sociology / Unit 9 Soc 1514 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Judicial System as the Third Branch
Captions available
The idea
The judicial system is the branch of government, alongside the legislative and executive, that interprets law and rules on constitutionality.
In practice
Sociologists study judicial rulings less for their legal reasoning than for what they reveal about a society's shifting cultural norms.
Where people slip
A court ruling settles a case's legal question; whether the public accepts it as legitimate is a separate sociological question.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Sociology