**Pattern Name:** Laws as Patterns
**Introduction:** It would be useful to record ordinances and laws as patterns that exist in networks (pattern languages).
This would humanize laws and might encourage writing laws that are smaller and are composed of adjacent laws rather hand huge text documents.
**Illustration:**
**CONTEXT:**
**Initial Situation:**
Neighborhood level innovations are often encumbered by existing laws and ordinances.
Of course this is true for any level in the political system.
**PROBLEM:** Most written laws are hard to find, hard understand, hard to know what the effects of applying the law are, hard to know how one law relates to other laws.
**Forces:**
**THEREFORE (SOLUTION):** Begin to present (re-present) current laws as patterns and networks of patterns. This would be an opportunity to begin to See the Systems of Laws. This has the effect of supporting ReLocalize Governance.
**Actions:** Find a few laws or ordinances that affect civil society work in Superior, Arizona and then put them into this pattern template.
**Consequences:**
**Known Uses:**
**Examples:**
**Important Know-How:**
**CONNECTED PATTERNS:** **Supported Patterns:** **Supporting Patterns:**
**Notes:**
Read The Ecology of Law, by Fritjof Capra and Ugo Mattei.
These insights can be integrated into the EIP Sketch.