Teaching in Africa during the independence movements, ICLAD founders Ann Seidman and Bob Seidman observed that, although new populist governments attempted reforms to improve people's lives, the standard of living often plunged instead. This puzzle led the Seidmans to ask, "How could law more effectively promote people's welfare?"

Working with their African colleagues—and drawing on many streams of thought—they developed a rich legislative problem-solving theory. The theory rests on American Legal Realism's distinction between behaviors prescribed by the law-on-the books and those generated by the law-in-action; the insights of the Norwegian anthropologist Fredrick Barth into the causes of problematic behaviors in the face of law; and John Dewey's problem-solving methodology. Like philosophers John Rawls, who called for the use of "public reasons" and Jürgen Habermas, who highlights the need for "communicative action," the Seidmans recognized that participants in the lawmaking process need to ground their discourse in evidence.

ICLAD grew out of the Seidmans' work, cultivating their insights into a theoretical program and research agenda at the center of the emerging field of legisprudence. We invite our partners and alumni, as well as the larger scholarly community, to join us in pushing the frontiers of this field and generating new applications.

 

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