Final answer:
Contractual rights ensure that individuals can enter agreements with legal enforcement, critical for business transactions and economic growth. Employment agreements exemplify the need for enforcing such rights, as a surgeon operating on a patient anticipates payment. Legal actions for contract enforcement include suits for money damages, suits for specific performance, and more.
Step-by-step explanation:
Contractual rights are deeply tied to property rights, offering individuals the platform to create agreements on the usage of their property with the assurance of legal recourse in cases of non-compliance. A common example of this involves an employment agreement, such as that between a surgeon and a patient. The surgeon performs a surgery expecting payment in return. If the patient fails to pay, this constitutes property theft in the form of services provided. Society relies on such contractual rights and the enforcement of contracts to ensure a smooth and predictable business environment, which is necessary for economic growth.
Regarding the legal actions to enforce contract terms, they can range across various types but typically include a suit for money damages, which seeks compensation for the loss incurred due to the breach of contract, a suit to quiet title, which resolves disputes over property ownership, a suit for specific performance, where the court orders the breaching party to fulfill their part of the agreement, and a suit for possession, regaining control or ownership of the property that was contracted about. In the educational example provided, if a surgeon is not paid for their services, they might pursue a suit for money damages to recover the fees owed.
Furthermore, the enforcement of contracts is backed by legal principles as outlined by amendments like the Seventh Amendment, which guarantees the right to a jury in civil cases to determine outcomes including the award of damages, further entrenching the need for legal enforcement of contracts to ensure fairness and justice in societal transactions.