Comparative Legal Institutions
LAWS 50101
- 01
(3)
e, r, x
This course is designed to examine a range of legal institutions from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. It is not a traditional course in comparative law, in that it focuses not so much on particular rules of substantive law but on the structure of different legal systems and the consequences of those structural differences for law and society, especially for economic development. Readings will be drawn from legal and social science literature, including works from anthropology, economics, political science and sociology. The course will explicitly cover non-Western legal traditions to an extent not found in conventional comparative law courses. The course will conclude with reflections on what a comparative perspective tells us about American legal institutions.
Course grades will be given on the basis of a take-home written exam, with a small component for class participation. There is a paper option for 2L, 3L and LLMs, but it is limited for 1L students.
Spring 2013
Tom Ginsburg
