Psychology and Institutional Design

I argue for the usefulness of a value-based approach to legal regulation. The value-based approach designs institutions in ways that promote the development of values such as legitimacy. Such a development of values encourages people to follow the rules because they believe they ought to, rather than out of fear of punishment. I suggest that the deterrence approach has limits and that the values-based model is a more efficient and effective basis for encouraging people to bring their behavior into line with law and legal institutions.