FUNCTIONAL SCHOOL OF JURISPRUDENCE:

 The functional school of law developed in the United States. It focuses on the question: "Will this
law work?" Law is one of experience.
 It is also called the "theory of sociological jurisprudence", "sociology of law," or "social science
school of law."
 It focuses on the "operation and effects" of law in relation to the interests of society. The
"interests of society", not the folk-soul or the pressures from the powerful elite, is the source of
law. Montesquieu wrote that law is an evolutionary process.
 Law is a tool for the "balancing of interests" in society. It is a tool of "social control" or "social
engineering." In a sense, it adheres to the tenets of "pragmatic ethics" or "ethical relativism" as
it aims to serve the interests of society with the least friction.
 It adheres to, and is actually a type of, "legal positivism" and "legal realism."
 The main factors that define the law are expediency and the convenience of society. Its main
proponent is Dean Roscoe Pound.
 There are three kinds of interests: individual, public, and social (or jural). All of these must be
considered in the "legal ordering" of society (private rights and obligations vs. social interests).
Since not all social conflicts can be compromised, some interests must give in. In social
engineering, where compromise fails, the tools of arbitration, judicial action, purposive
legislation, and decisive executive action must come in.
 The greatest good for the greatest number, or "social utilitarianism," is the main guidepost of the
functional school. Law is pragmatic and dynamic.
 THIS DOES NOT HOWEVER CHANGE THE FACT THE FUNCTIONS