Why do people follow the law?

Does the law have to make an appeal to the conscience? I do not think that it has to. Some people may feel that they have to obey the law because their morality forces them to do so. But, some people who do have morals and some people who just do not care about morals, may not feel that this plays a role in why they follow the law. Then another question arises. Do people simply follow the law because they want to avoid punishment? There has to be a reason why there exists such a threat of punishment if one were to break the law. I believe that this threat exists because some people do not judge whether an act is right or wrong before they carry out that act. Instead they consider the possibility, if the result of this act overweighs the consequences. People in this society are afraid of punishment. They do not want to do the jail time especially if the consequence of their act implies an excess sentence. Also, when it comes to the “rule of recognition”, I do not believe that many people even comprehend that they can benefit from the law. Deep down in their minds it always comes back to them that the law is always against them. People despise police officers, lawyers, and sometimes judges even though they are the ones that broke the law. I think that if people of a community realize how the law helps them, that this combined with the aspect of “command theory” then that would describe why people follow the law. Therefore, I would agree with this role of convergent behavior which is a goal of positivism. People would act accordingly by either threatening with punishment or by offering incentives.