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THE SCIENCE OF LAWS: CREATIVE SCIENCE

The creative science of laws, or engineering discipline of laws, is the systematic and principled intellectual enterprise that employs knowledge and tools to solve societal problems efficaciously through the creation and optimization of the laws of government. It also derives, records, organizes and promulgates reliable (i.e., peer-reviewed) knowledge of design methodologies and quality programs that are used to design and optimize the laws of government.

The creative science of recognizes high ethical standards: the design of laws that solve societal problems in the best interests of the people requires honesty and integrity in every aspect of lawmaking. Specifically, the use of deliberate deception and intentional vagueness to insert special interest provisions, "pork barrel" projects, and political agendas into laws (as is now tolerated by the traditional method of lawmaking) will never be tolerated by the engineering discipline of laws.

The creative science of laws is thus focused on the following

  • Creation of laws that optimally serve the purpose of democracy
  • Development and accumulation of knowledge of law-design processes and related subjects
  • Development of quality design and quality improvement standards for laws
  • Development of ethical standards
  • Promulgation of scientific knowledge, quality standards, and ethical standards
  • Participation in the development of college curricula for the science and engineering disciplines of laws

The engineering discipline of laws will correct the flaws of the traditional method of lawmaking and will bring scholarship, quality standards, design expertise, and ethics to the lawmaking process. It will also create laws that are effective, cost-efficient, safe, and user-friendly, and transform lawmaking into a knowledge industry.

The emergence of the engineering discipline of laws as the basis for the design of laws will enable governments to ascend to the status of true democracy and accomplish the objectives that solve problems in the best interests of the people and reflect their highest aspirations.

THE ENGINEERING PROCESS

The methods of investigative science and creative science are closely related. The fields of investigative science observe the scientific process (e.g., hypothesis formulation, experimentation, measurement, analysis) for the production of reliable knowledge of real-world phenomena. Similarly, the disciplines of engineering observe the steps of the problem-solving method for the creation and optimization of tools. (See reference text, Chapter Seven and Appendices E and F).

The problem solving method that is practiced by the disciplines of engineering includes the following steps, all of which refer to reliable and relevant knowledge data bases and engineering best practices:

  • Problem definition, prioritization, and analysis
  • Definition of the problem-solving objective
  • "Brainstorming" and selection of an idea for a solution that will achieve the desired objective
  • Formulation of a model of the solution – includes consideration of internal and external constraints such as costs, risks, and side effects
  • Testing / simulation of the model to assess and predict solution performance
  • Fabrication and testing of prototype solution
  • Implementation of solution
  • Follow up evaluation of solution performance
  • Optimization of the solution

The strength of engineering lies in its ability to create accurate models (e.g., "blueprints," mathematical and computer representations, scaled replicas...) of solutions and their environments. Models enable engineers to simulate the performance of solutions and adjust design parameters so that optimum operating conditions can be achieved. In particular, models enable engineers to predict the performance of solutions with a high degree of accuracy, thus minimizing the risk of failure and the cost of future redesign efforts.

The engineering discipline of laws promises to make substantial improvements in the design and the performance of the laws of government because the present method of lawmaking is devoid of the methodologies and principles of engineering.

The ultimate engineering objective is to create laws that approximate the ideal law, thereby optimally serving the purpose of democracy. Quality design standards are essential for the creation of an ideal law, quality assurance is needed to confirm that design objectives have been met, and a quality improvement program is needed to maintain the high levels of performance of the law in a dynamic environment. The ideal law is an elegant solution; it solves societal problems effectively in a user-friendly manner with minimum burdens on the people.

Click here for Quality Design (QD) Standards for Laws
Click here for Quality Assurance (QA) Standards for Laws
Click here for Quality Improvement (QI) Standards for Laws