Are national legal cultures in Europe converging or diverging as a result of the pressures of European legal integration? Åse B. Grødeland and William L. Miller address this question by exploring the attitudes and perceptions of the general public and law professionals in five European countries: England, Norway, Bulgaria, Poland and the Ukraine.
Presenting new findings, they challenge the established view that ordinary citizens and people working professionally with the law have different legal cultures. Their research in fact reveals that the attitudes of citizens in Eastern and Western Europe towards 'law-in-principle' are remarkably similar, whereas perceptions of 'law-in-practice' differ by country and often correlate with GDP per capita and country ranking in rule of law indices.
Grødeland and Miller's innovative methodological approach will appeal to both experts and non-experts with an interest in legal culture, European integration, or European elite and public opinion.
- Provides a thorough and systematic investigation of legal culture in five countries across Western and Eastern Europe
- Presents new and original data on European elite and public opinion, documenting similarities and differences in attitudes and perceptions
- Combines quantitative and qualitative data in an original approach that contributes to social science methodology
Grødeland, Å. B. & Miller, W. L. (2015). European Legal Cultures in Transition. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/no/universitypress/subjects/law/comparative-law/european-legal-cultures-transition?format=HB&isbn=9781107050358
