Classics in Comparative Law: An Introduction

Abstract

Legal scholars often criticize comparative law for being an overreaching discipline, lacking a coherent methodology and a well-defined domain. Nevertheless, there remains something exciting and potentially enlightening about comparative law. In these 3 volumes, we present a selection of 77 articles and essays that in our view illustrates the importance of comparative legal analysis. We survey, in a necessarily selective and incomplete way, the modern era of comparative law, beginning in the late 19th century. In this introduction, we summarize many of the themes in the collection, with special attention to three enduring questions in the field: how do law and legal systems develop? How do we understand variation? And why should we care?

Keywords: legal families, comparative legal systems, legal evolution

JEL Classification: K00, K01