The world of Game of Thrones has a wide range of politics and cultures that stretch across Westeros and beyond. In this video we look at the various legal systems that appear and consider how different famous legal philosophies can be applied.

The feudal system of the Starks is very much based on a social contract theory that was developed by Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The minor houses pledge fealty to Winterfell in return for protection and assistance.

The Lannisters are arguably the most effective house at playing politics but a large part of this is by making sure that they do ultimately play by the unwritten rules of the Westeros constitution. Hans Kelsen posited a theory of law as norms where in any society there is a grundnorm or foundational norm that is ultimately obeyed without question. In Game of Thrones this is represented by the Iron Throne and so we can understand why the Lannisters are so keen to take that seat. This, however, is not enough to retain power and so we also examine the legal theory of Jeremy Bentham and John Austin who argue that law is always about command. In other words the most powerful people should be obeyed. When the Sept of Baelor was blown up this was one of the most iconic demonstrations of power.

Daenerys Targaryen is not much like many of her ancestors and seems to abide by a much more general sense of justice and what is ‘right’. This can be seen in her decision regarding the slaves in the cities where slavery is the norm. The legal theory behind this is called natural justice and dates back as far as Ancient Greek. The argument is that people naturally have certain rights and these should not be undermined.

Finally we also take a look at the free folk who invoke a much more libertarian legal philosophy that is based on personal freedoms and free association.