Introduction

1.Theories of legal evolution

Part one: classical theories of legal evolution

Part two: contemporary theories of legal development

Conclusion

2.A typology of legal institutions

Constructing a typology

Self- or kin-based redress

Advisor systems

Mediator systems

Elders’ and restricted councils

Chieftainships

Paramount chieftainships

State-level legal systems

Conclusion: a comparison with other typologies

3.Modes of production and the distribution of legal institutions

The concept of mode of production

Conflict, law, and the mode of production

Data analysis and findings

Nonstatistical summary

4.Modes of production and the functions of legal institutions

Food collectors: hunters, gatherers, and fishers

Pastoral societies

The cultivators: extensive agriculture

The cultivators: intensive agriculture

Summary

5.Conclusion: Materialism and legal systems

Appendixes

1.Sixty-society subsample by geographical region and subsistence type

2.Bibliographic sources for sixty-society subsample

3.Nonparametric measures of association

4.Social stratification by forces of production

5.Social stratification by social relations of production

6.Regression equations

7.Legal institution codes for sixty-society subsample

8.Legal institutions by social stratification

Bibliography

Index