According to several theories of the 19th and 20th Centuries the law can be defined as a system of imperatives or declarations of will that emanate from certain: “independently authoritative persons or complexes of persons in a society.”138 In other words, what we have are theories of law that connect the law-making will to:“the de facto supreme personal authority in a society.”139 However, what makes these theories distinct from those discussed above is that they make the binding power of the content of the law-making will conditional upon the existence of certain extralegal factors, certain sociological facts, such as how the members of a particular society actually behave when it comes to obedience towards the law. Therefore, the binding power of the law is ultimately a matter of social conduct.140 Obedience - law. Disobedience - anarchy. It is through such general and lasting obedience that power becomes law, might turns intoright. Karl Olivecrona (1897-1980) calls this theory “sociological legal positivism” on account of its attempts to found law on sociological factors.141 Sociological legal positivism, or sociological jurisprudence, suffers from a decisive weakness - its inability to explain the relationship between the sovereign (construed either as a single person or complex of persons) and valid law. Hägerström formulates this weakness as follows:“If the basis of the theory is alleged to be the will of the holder or holders of de facto power in a society, the difficulty arises that the law itself is the foundation and the limit of that de facto power.”142 Accordingly, the sovereign’s will is conditional a ca l l f o r s c i e n t i f i c p u r i t y 337 138 Hägerström refers to: John Austin, Holland, Merkel, Berolzheimer, and Reuterskiöld. Hägerström, “Är gällande rätt?,” p. 70; “Is Positive Law?,” pp. 28-29. Swedish: “självständigt bestämmande personer eller personkomplexer i samhället” 139 Hägerström, “Är gällande rätt?,” p. 70; “Is Positive Law?,” p. 28. Swedish: “den faktiska personliga högsta makten i ett samhälle.” 140 Hägerström, “Är gällande rätt?,” pp. 70-71; “Is Positive Law?,” pp. 28-29. 141 Olivecrona,“Inledning,” inRätten och viljan: två uppsatser ånyo utg. av Karl Olivecrona, p. 15. 142 Hägerström, “Är gällande rätt?,” p.95; “Is Positive Law?,” p.55. Swedish:“Om viljan hos innehavaren eller innehavarna av den faktiska makteniett samhälle lägges till grund [för teorin], framträder den svårigheten, att rätten själv begrundar och begränsar den faktiska makten.” (contents of square brackets added here).
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