Legalizim

Legalizim is not a widely standardized term in mainstream legal theory. In contemporary discourse, it has appeared as a coinage used by some scholars and commentators to describe a stance toward law that emphasizes the expansion, formalization, or legitimization of social life through formal legal rules. The concept, when invoked, often signals attention to how and why particular practices, relationships, or domains are brought under legal regulation.

Generally, legalizim refers to a tendency to rely on or promote the legalization of activities, norms, and interactions that previously operated outside formal legal frameworks, or to the belief that law should be the primary mechanism for coordinating and regulating social life. It is concerned with the scope and reach of legal authority and the methods by which legal norms become binding in everyday practice.

Legalizim is not the same as legalism. Legalism is often associated with strict adherence to rules or the view that law should govern all aspects of life; legalizim focuses more on the process and effects of making more domains subject to law, regardless of whether adherence is moralized or formalistic.

In policy discussions, legalizim can appear in debates over how regulatory states address digital platforms, biotechnology, climate governance, labor relations, and civil status recognition. It can also describe judicial practices that expand legal intervention to reshape social relations through statutes, regulations, or constitutional interpretation.

Critics argue that excessive legalization may create rigidity, bureaucratic overhead, or diminish the role of informal norms and discretionary judgment. Proponents contend that it can improve predictability, rights protection, accountability, and legitimacy by clarifying rules and remedies. Related concepts include legalism, the rule of law, and the regulatory state.