• Part 1 Issues in the use of discretion: the use of legal discretion - perspectives from law and social science; discretion and rules - a lawyer's view; discretionary decision making - a jurisprudential view. Part 2 Social processes in the use of legal discretion: the myth of discretion; social limits to discretion - an organizational perspective; discretion in a behavioural perspective - the case of a public housing eviction board; organizational horizons and complaint filing; big bang decisions - notes on a naturalistic approach. Part 3 Thinking about the uses of discretion: administrative justice - discretion and procedure in social security decision making; discretion - power, quiescence and trust; the jurisprudence of discretion - escaping the legal paradigm.

this book is now the standard for inquiry on discretion and the law. No legal scholar will be able to ignore its challenge to the conventional wisdom, nor will any social scientist want to begin research on the subject without it