Abstract

Setting aside its conceptual issues, it remains an open question whether the internal point of view is a good descriptive tool for the behaviour of ordinary citizens or if a sanction‐based explanation of legal compliance is sufficient. This paper will discuss strains of experimental literature corroborating Hart’s criticism of sanction‐based accounts and suggesting that compliance with norms is indeed a shared practice sensitive to social influence. Legal institutions can interact with this shared practice in a way that cannot be reduced to pure incentives. Sanction‐based theories cannot account for norm compliance: They face a challenge in explaining the complex behavioural patterns observed in the minimalistic setting of laboratories.