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 是定語從句，省略了作表語的關系代詞 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范的一個方面。（有時可以不翻譯出來）

又如：

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

大家覺得，那就是這種動物被困住的地方，在那里它們漸漸演化成現在的品種。