Legislation, a Suitable Case for Policy Building Blocks for an Operational Theory of Legislation

Legal norms, if you like them or not, make the behaviour of fellow people and governments more predictable, they may provide some certainty in social life and may lead to fewer con icts. This predictability and -legal- security are main conditions for undertaking and attempting the risks of life. Therefore, it is important that (new) statutes show some continuity and will be functioning in conformity with the embedded norms. However, it appears to be very dif cult to predict how draft statutes will function once they have become enacted statutes, and under which conditions they will operate best. That is quite amazing, considering mankind's 4000 years tradition of carved or written rules.

Legislation is considered to be (and to have always been) the juridical vehicle of policy. In preparing legislation the legislator has to understand what is necessary for compliance in terms of clarity of norms, necessary material means and means for 'human' enforcement (and control). An effective legislator is an empathetic legislator. In this book a model of the process of legislation is developed, from the idea of making a law (the political and policy part) to its 'end': attaining the intended societal goals (the social part). Building blocks have been set in this study, based on evidence as much as possible. The rather elaborate model for analysis may serve a better understanding of the working of legislation (and so to achieve more effective legislation) and may serve as an instrument for new research and new studies.