Being a science - although lately its unity has been disputed - the theory of state and law deals with certain phenomena and patterns. It is called upon to investigate such different structural phenomena of society as law and the state. That is, the object of her research is the largest and most characteristic trends in the emergence, folding and interaction of the state and law. Understanding these trends allows you to learn the knowledge of more specific branches of the legal sciences.
This general theoretical science has its own methodology - a system of certain theoretical principles and logical methods of research. Thus, the methodology of the theory of state and law is a system of certain logical conclusions and techniques (deduction and induction, synthesis and analysis, synthesis, comparison), as well as philosophical, linguistic, sociological, psychological and other approaches to understanding the basic laws of origin, development and interaction of state and law.
This theory has general, particular, and special methods. The methodology of the theory of state and law proceeds from the fact that, despite the difference between studying the types, forms, structures, functions and prospects of the state and studying the norms, sources, types of interpretation of law, its concepts and practice, for both theories one can use general methods of sciences society - especially social philosophy and philosophy of law. Here the concept is applicable that law as a phenomenon depends on the living conditions of society, is associated with other social phenomena - economic, political, spiritual, cultural, and is constantly evolving, being qualitatively updated along with the development of society.
Along with general philosophical approaches, the methodology of the theory of state and law also uses private (specific) methods. For example, the traditional special (or formal) legal method studies law as such, in isolation from economics, morality, politics, etc. This method allows us to identify clear and concise formulations of the studied state and law in terms of “subject of law”, “legal capacity”, “normative act”, etc. An alternative and to some extent the exact opposite of the legal-technical method is the method of comparing legal systems, when they are compared according to various criteria based on a specific model or model.
A popular and effective sociological method. It consists in the fact that law is investigated not in the form of abstract categories, but at the level of specific social phenomena. Along with the analysis of laws, the processing of the results of population polls or statistics, other non-legal documents is being processed. It allows you to increase the reliability of our knowledge of the subject. The methodology of the theory of state and law can also include a statistical method, which consists in establishing statistical indicators regarding the subject of study - for example, data on the percentage of crimes during which violence is committed, to economic offenses.
Other methods of the theory of state and law - for example, historical and psychological - help by analyzing and comparing the structures of the state and legal norms of certain historical periods to study the process of formation of forms of statehood and law, to identify family ties between them, to trace their development and mutual influence. Special or generalizing methods, such as psychological, systemic, structural and others, allow you to use the achievements in the field of other sciences to study the problems of the state and law, as well as put specific phenomena in a specific context.
The subject and methodology of the theory of state and law have the functions necessary for understanding the meaning and trends of the development of public life. So, the function of cognition allows us to explain processes and phenomena in state and legal life. The heuristic function opens up new patterns that determine yet another function - prognostic (construction of future models of state and law).