Page 176 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

eobf_C 7/5/06 2:57 PM Page 153

Contracts

tions taken in activities of state governments, which are CONTINUING
most directly affected and contacted by concerned con- PROFESSIONAL
sumers.
EDUCATION
SEE ALSO Consumer Advocacy and Protection
SEE Professional Education
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, Richard (1999). The development of consumer rights
in the United States slowed by the power of corporate politi-
cal contributions and lobbying. Retrieved January 11, 2006, CONTRACTS
from http://consumerlawpage.com/article
A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the
Brobeck, Stephen (1990). The modern consumer movement: Refer-
ences and resources. Boston: G. K. Hall. breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the per-
formance of which the law in some way recognizes
Cannarozzi, M. (2000). Cyber-patrols threaten Internet liberties.
as a duty.
Retrieved January 11, 2006, from
http://www.chronicleworld.org/archive/cyberpat.htm The freedom to contract has not existed throughout
Consumer@action. (2005). The evolution of consumer action: history. In medieval England, the courts did not engage in
The history of the organization. Retrieved January 11, 2006, the enforcement of agreements between individuals.
from http://www.consumer-action.org/English/ Rather, the feudal society that ruled personal interaction
evolutionofCA.php
was relied upon for all forms of trade. As society evolved
Esposito, John C. (1970). Vanishing air: The Ralph Nader study to emphasize individual freedoms over social caste, the
group report on air pollution. New York: Grossman.
ability to contract was viewed as a fundamental tenet of
Friedman, Monroe (1995). On promoting a sustainable future
through consumer activism. Journal of Social Sciences, 51(4), individual liberty. Writers and economic theorists such as
197–215. Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham, and John
Friedman, Monroe (1999). Consumer boycotts: Effecting change Stuart Mill “successively insisted on freedom of bargaining
through the marketplace and the media. New York: Routledge. as the fundamental and indispensable requisite of
It-Pays-to-Complain.com. http://www.it-pays-to-complain.com progress; and imposed their theories on the educated
Nader, Ralph (1965). Unsafe at any speed. New York: Grossman. thought of their times.”
Page, Joseph A., and O’Brien, Mary-Win (1973). Bitter wages: Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution protects
Ralph Nader’s study group report on disease and injury on the the individual right to contract by stating that, “No State
job. New York: Grossman.
shall … pass any … law impairing the obligations of Con-
Public Citizen Congress Watch. http://www.citizen.org tracts.” Many state constitutions contain similar provi-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. sions.
http://www.cpsc.gov
Generally, the law of contracts does not come from
Zwick, David, and Benstock, Marcy (1971). Water wasteland:
Ralph Nader’s study group report on water pollution. New York: statutes passed by Congress or by state legislatures, but
Grossman. rather is a product of the common law, the continuing
line of court decisions dating back to pre-colonial English
courts. The common law is living and constantly evolving,
Mary Jean Lush
as modern courts continue to analyze, revise and even dis-
agree on its application. The American Law Institute, a
collection of legal scholars and practitioners, attempted to
CONTEMPORARY catalogue the common law of contracts in its Restate-
ments of the Law of Contracts in 1932. The Restatement,
MANAGEMENT
Second, of the Law of Contracts was published in 1979.
THOUGHTS The Restatement, although it does not have the force of
SEE Management law itself, is generally regarded as an excellent source. The
law of contracts is also significantly influenced by the Uni-
form Commercial Code (UCC), which has been adopted
in forty-nine states. The UCC is an attempt to standard-
CONTINGENCY MODEL ize laws dealing with contracts and commerce. The UCC
SEE Management/Leadership Styles is beyond the scope of this article.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION 153