LAWvalues

This test is a legal jurisprudence quiz that attempts to assign percentages for sixteen different legal philosophy values across eight axes. You will be presented with statements about legal interpretation and judicial philosophy, and then you will answer with your opinion on the statement, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. At the end of the quiz, your answers will be compared to the maximum possible for each value, thus giving you a percentage. Answer honestly based on your legal philosophy!

There are questions in the test.

What are the sixteen values?

There are eight independent axes of legal jurisprudence, and each has two opposing values assigned to them. They are:

POSITIVIST

Law's authority comes from validly enacted sources like constitutions, statutes, and rules. Judges apply those sources as written; moral critique is outside the law.

SOURCE

NON-POSITIVIST

Legal authority is bounded by higher norms, such as natural law or fundamental rights. When text conflicts with those principles, interpretation narrows or overrides the positive law.

TEXTUALIST

Meaning turns on the communicative content of the text, separate from any particular author or believed, external intent. Canons and structure guide reading; purpose and legislative history play a limited role.

CONSTRAINT

OPEN CONSTRUCTION

Text is read broadly to effectuate its aims and close loopholes. Purpose, consequences, and contemporary context inform application.

HISTORICAL

Meaning is fixed at adoption, likely according to original public understanding. Founding- or amendment-era practice and tradition anchor interpretation.

TIME

LIVING

Meaning and tests adapt with changing facts and societal values. Precedent and modern consensus can reshape application and, at times, entire doctrine.

STABILITY

Precedent carries heavy weight to preserve reliance and predictability. It is better to tolerate errors and imperfect systems than to have every judge shifting whims.

PRECEDENT

OVERRULING

Wrong or unworkable precedents should be discarded despite reliance costs. Correctness and systemic coherence should prevail.

NARROW

Remedies should be incremental and party-specific. Prefer as-applied relief, severability, and minimal judicial management, even risking a weak judiciary.

REMEDIES

SYSTEMIC

Remedies should readily address pervasive, structural violations. Broad injunctions, institutional decrees, and ongoing oversight are acceptable, even risking an activist judiciary.

MAJORITARIAN

Courts generally defer to elected branches and democratic outputs. Intervention is reserved for clear legal violations.

POSTURE

COUNTER-MAJORITARIAN

Courts actively protect rights and structure against majority will. Popularity yields to constitutional limits.

FORMALIST

Separation of powers is enforced by bright lines and prescribed forms. Each branch must act through its constitutionally assigned procedures.

SEPARATION

FUNCTIONALIST

Separation tolerates pragmatic overlap to ensure effective governance. The touchstones are accountability, checks, and workability.

RULES

Prefer bright-line rules decided ahead of time with low discretion. Predictability and administrability dominate, even when it messes up border cases.

FORM

BALANCING

Prefer standards that weigh competing interests case by case. Proportionality and context drive outcomes, even when it empowers bad outcomes.

I don't like my scores!

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This was made by adjusting the original 8values code to new questions and more values. It is based on an American judicial lens, which differs from European Napoleonic or Pandectist contexts, Nordic and Soviet socialist law contexts, and more hybrid and often inquisitive structures of Asia and Africa.

LAWvalues

What is LAWvalues?

What are the sixteen values?

I don't like my scores!