The common law is more than a legal institution, it is a structural integrating principle of life.

Common law is what integrates the various autonomous entities that make up a society into a cohesive, knit-together union, the nation under the aegis of the state.

It is also what restricts and conditions those nations and those states so that they do not overstep their boundaries, making possible freedom within and between nations.

Law is thus what provides boundaries, and it is boundaries rightly drawn that enable freedom.

The books in this series use the common-law paradigm as integrating principle of discussion.

For more on the common-law paradigm, see the website Common Law Review.