Which term is described as a set of rules or modes of conduct on which society is based?

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The main idea here is distinguishing formal rules that govern behavior from internal standards. Laws are the formal, codified rules created by government to regulate conduct, define obligations, and establish penalties for violations. They provide the tangible framework that organizes society and is enforceable through institutions like courts and police. This makes laws the governing system that a society uses to function in a predictable way.

Ethics, values, and morals describe beliefs and guidelines about right and wrong or what is important, often shaping behavior and influencing laws, but they aren’t the formal, universally applied rule set that authorities enforce. Ethics pertain to professional or organizational conduct, values are what people or cultures deem important, and morals are personal or cultural judgments about right and wrong.

So the term that best fits “a set of rules or modes of conduct on which society is based” is laws.