I will follow this line of thought, and will consider the law’s use

of force to be but an aspect of the kind of institution it is

這里的it is作什么用、怎么樣翻譯呢？很感謝!

I will follow this line of thought, and will consider the law’s use of force to be but an aspect of the kind of institution it is.

it is 是定語(yǔ)從句，省略了作表語(yǔ)的關(guān)系代詞 that。

that 指代aspect, it 指代 the laws use of force。

意思是：法律訴諸武力是這種規(guī)范的一個(gè)方面。（有時(shí)可以不翻譯出來(lái)）

又如：

We think that’s where this animal was trapped and evolved into the species it is now.

大家覺(jué)得，那就是這種動(dòng)物被困住的地方，在那里它們漸漸演化成現(xiàn)在的品種。