ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the literature relating to five related themes. First, comparing different legal approaches to the legal decision-making process, with a special focus on the liberal legal formalism and critical legal studies (CLS). Then, describes different sociological approaches to the mechanism of power and the role of law in the mechanism. Then, in order to discusses how social structures and social actors may play a role in the legal decision-making process. Next, it offers a detailed discussion of Giddens' theory of structuration, which attempts to reconcile the tension. The importance of the aspect of communication, with respect to the legal arguments made by knowledgeable legal actors, is emphasized. Finally, it discusses how the scheme of news discourse analysis drawn from the perspective of constructivism may help the examination of legal arguments. There are various streams in the field of legal scholarship that characterize legal systems and legal decision making process.
