The process of making a law can be broken down into three separate and distinct stages. In this chapter, we will study the stage of the process of making a law called
FORMATION.
FORMATION deals with the desires of a Lawmaker with regard to the Conduct itself. In contrast,
INTRUSION deals with the desires of a Lawmaker with regard to a Source doing conduct and
RECOGNITION deals with the desires of a Lawmaker with regard to a Recipient receiving conduct.
From her perch at the acme of
the Triangle of a Law, a Lawmaker despises the facts at its base as a flow of conduct from source to recipient in circumstances. During
FORMATION, the focus of the lawmaker is upon the Conduct itself. It is not upon the Source doing conduct or the Recipient receiving conduct. This focus creates a relationship between the Lawmaker and the Conduct itself. It is one of the three legal relationships in
A Unified Theory of a Law. This relationship is depicted graphically as one of the three legs of
The Triangle of Law.
During
FORMATION, a lawmaker forms any of three opinions about a flow of conduct from Source to Recipient in Circumstances:
- a Lawmaker likes the conduct and wants the flow of conduct to be turned on,
- a Lawmaker is indifferent to the conduct and does not care whether or not the flow of conduct is on or off, or
- a Lawmaker dislikes the conduct and wants the flow of conduct turned off.
A
lawmaker's three opinions are no different than the opinions we form about things.
After a lawmaker forms an opinion during the
FORMATION stage of the process of making a law, the lawmaker must externalize the opinion and communicate it to the citizenry. In other words, the shell must be cracked and the nut freed. Fortunately for
lawmakers, our language has evolved intrinsic grammatical structures to do so. The vocabulary of
FORMATION consists of two sentences coupled with the polarities of conduct. They are sufficient to express the three opinions that a lawmaker can form at the
FORMATION stage of the process of making a law. They are
- a Command for affirmative (a/k/a on) conduct,
- a Permission for either affirmative (a/k/a on) or negative (a/k/a off) conduct, or
- a Command for negative (a/k/a off) conduct;
A
command is a sentence in what grammarians call the imperative mood. The word,
command, describes a law in which a
lawmaker has formed an opinion of like or dislike toward a flow of conduct and hence desires to turn it on or off. A clue to a
command is the appearance in the sentence holding the law of the helping verb,
shall.
A
permission is a sentence in what grammarians call the permissive mood. The word,
permission, describes a law in which a
lawmaker is indifferent and hence there is an absence of a desire for either positive or negative conduct. A clue to a
permission is the appearance in the sentence holding the law of the helping verb,
may.
FORMATION does not have its own metaphor because a gap does not exist between the Vocabulary of Formation and the Opinion of the Lawmaker at the Formation stage of the lawmaking process. Thus, no metaphor is needed to help us understand. This is not so during the other two stages:
INTRUSION and
RECOGNITION
FORMATION occupies three of the nine cells of the three by three grid known as
the Periodic Table of the Elements of a Law. Cells A2, B2 and C2 found in Column 2 capture everything that occurs during the
FORMATION stage of the process of making a law.
- COMMAND:
A command is one of the ways we express a law. There are only two. The other is a permission. The existence of a command indicates a lawmaker has a like or a dislike towards a flow of conduct and desires to turn it on or off. A command is in the imperative mood. The helping verb, "shall", is a clue to a command. Both weight and standing are present with a command. A lawmaker binds a command to a weight token holder with a duty and to a standing token holder with a right.
- DISLIKE:
Dislike is one of the three opinions of a Lawmaker at the formation stage of the process of making a law, the other two being like, and indifference.
- FORMATION:
FORMATION is one of the three stages of the process of making a law, the other two being INTRUSION and RECOGNITION. FORMATION involves the development of a Lawmaker's opinion towards conduct . A lawmaker's forms an opinion of either like, indifference or dislike. Once a lawmaker has formed her opinion, she then must express it. To express an opinion, a Lawmaker has two ways to do so: a Command or a Permission.
- INDIFFERENCE:
Indifference is one of the three opinions of a Lawmaker at the formation stage of the process of making a law, the other two being like, and dislike.
- LAWMAKER:
A Lawmaker is involved in the process of making a law. During the lawmaking process, a lawmaker occupies three different stages: 1) FORMATION, 2) INTRUSION and 3) RECOGNITION. Arising out of what a lawmaker does at the three different stages are relationships between 1) the lawmaker and the conduct, 2) the lawmaker and the source and 3) the lawmaker and the recipient. These are the three legal relationships in A Unified Theory of a Law. All legal relationships involve a lawmaker at one end. Graphically, a lawmaker is depicted on the acme of The Triangle of Law despising a flow of conduct from source to recipient in circumstances at its base.
- LIKE:
Like is one of the three opinions of a Lawmaker at the formation stage of the process of making a law, the other two being dislike, and indifference.
- OPINION:
The opinion of a lawmaker consists of 1) like 2) indifference or 2) dislike. A lawmaker's opinions are no different than the opinions we have about things.
- PERMISSION:
A permission is one of the ways we express a law. There are only two. The other is a command. The existence of a permission indicates a lawmaker is indifferent to both the affirmative and the negative versions of the conduct and utterly lacks any desire with regard to either. To flow or not to flow, the lawmaker does not care. A permission is in the permissive mood. The helping verb, "may", is a clue to a permission. Both weight and standing are absent with a permission. A lawmaker binds a permission to a weight token holder with a privilege and to a standing token holder with a no-right.
- RELATIONSHIP:
In a A Unified Theory of a Law are a finite number of relationships: four (4) to be precise. One of the relationships is factual and three of them are legal. The four relationships are depicted graphically upon a three legged triangle. The factual relationship occupies the base and the legal relationships occupy the three legs. At the ends of the factual relationship is a source and a recipient. At one end of the three legal relationships is the lawmaker and at the other three ends is the conduct itself, the source and the recipient. Each of the three legal relationships have their own names, i.e., 1) FORMATION, 2) INTRUSION and 3) RECOGNITION. They take their names from the stage of the lawmaking process that created them. The factual relationship does not have its own name. It is known simply as the factual relationship.
- STAGES:
The process of making a law can be divided into three distinct stages. They are called 1) FORMATION, 2) INTRUSION and 3) RECOGNITION. At each stage of the lawmaking process, a lawmaker forms a different though related opinion and focuses upon a different aspect of a flow of conduct from source to recipient in circumstances.
