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NETWORK RESEARCH IN LAW: CURRENT SCHOLARSHIP IN REVIEW
Corresponding Author(s) : Shisong Jiang
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 7 No. 5 (2019): September
Abstract
Purpose of the study: The aim of this paper is twofold and while one is more analytically conspicuous, another is rather devised to be more connotatively ambitious. As to the former one, it intends to contribute to the literature on the interdisciplinary collaboration between network science and legal science by comprehensively reviewing and discussing the existing literature as well as the relevant academic activities.
Methodology: To achieve its aims, this study primarily adopts the scoping review methodology to map the extant literature and relevant research activities in this emergent area of research. The data solicited for this study was thus qualitative in nature and mainly generated from journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference proceedings on the topic in question. In addition, Internet sources like blog pages and university websites were involved as well.
Main findings: The comprehensive review conducted by this study recognized that the origin, evolution, and development of network studies of law have been in line with the mainstream of network analysis/science, especially in terms of the historical timeline and scope.
Applications of this study: Given the epistemic and pragmatical significance of integrating network thinkings and methods with legislation, adjudication, and implementation, this study is highly relevant and meaningful for both legal practitioners and (socio-)legal academics who obtain the specific intention of updating the landscape of this field.
Novelty/Originality of this study: Against the general backdrop of the increasing number of studies that apply network theories and methods to legal topics, this study is initially novel in the sense that it attempts to uncover the intellectual trajectory of the network analysis in law by reviewing the existing literature and the relevant activities in the academia.
Keywords
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- Agnoloni, T. (2015). Network Analysis of Italian Constitutional Case Law. In Semantic Processing of Legal Texts (SPLeT-2014) (pp. 151–155).
- Amstutz, M., & Teubner, G. (Eds.). (2009). Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation. Portland: Hart Publishing.
- Augsberg, I., Viellechner, L., & Zumbansen, P. (2009). Introduction to the Special Issue: The Law of the Network Society. A Tribute to Karl-Heinz Ladeur. German Law Journal, 10(4), 305–309. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001085 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001085
- Berry, F. S., Brower, R. S., Choi, S. O., Goa, W. X., Jang, H., Kwon, M., & Word, J. (2004). Three traditions of network research: What the public management research agenda can learn from other research communities. Public Administration Review, 64(5), 539–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00402.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00402.x
- Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J., & Labianca, G. (2009). Network Analysis in the Social Sciences. Science, 323(April), 892–896. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165821 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165821
- Buxbaum, R. M. (1993). Is “Network†a Legal Concept? Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 149(4), 698–705.
- Castells, M. (2000). Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society. The British Journal of Sociology, 51(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/000713100358408 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/000713100358408
- Chané, A.-L., & Sharma, A. (2017). Social Network Analysis in Human Rights Research. In B. A. Andreassen, H.-O. Sano, & S. McInerney-Lankford (Eds.), Research Methods in Human Rights: A Handbook (pp. 354–378). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793.00023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793.00023
- Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2011). Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. New York: Little, Brown.
- Cotterrell, R. (2008). Community as a Legal Concept? Some Uses of a Law-And-Community Approach in Legal Theory. In R. Cotterrell (Ed.), Living Law: Studies in Legal and Social Theory (pp. 17–28). Farnham: Ashgate.
- Dallara, C., & Amato, R. (2012). Judicial and Legal Expert Networks. New Actors for a EU Area of Justice? In National Courts vis-a-vis EU Law: New Issues, Theories & Methods, European University Insitute (pp. 1–3).
- de Visser, M., & Claes, M. (2013). Judicial Networks. In P. Larouche & P. Cserne (Eds.), National Legal Systems and Globalization (pp. 345–370). The Hague: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-885-9_13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-885-9_13
- Dothan, S. (2018). Social Networks and the Enforcement of International Law. In M. Hirsch & A. Lang (Eds.), Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law (pp. 333–346). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00023
- Druey, J. N. (2009). The Path to the Law - The Difficult Legal Access of Networks. In M. Amstutz & G. Teubner (Eds.), Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation (pp. 87–102). Portland: Hart Publishing.
- Druzin, B. (2009). Buying Commercial Law: Choice of Law, Choice of Forum, and Network Externalities. Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law, 18, 131.
- Economides, N. (1996). The Economics of Networks. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 14(September 1994), 673–699. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7187(96)01015-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7187(96)01015-6
- Erickson, M. (2012). Network as Metaphor. International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, 5(2), 912–921.
- Freeman, L. (2011). The Development of Social Network Analysis - With an Emphasis on Recent Events. The Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis, 26–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2005.01.010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446294413.n3
- Gallagher, J. J., & Anderson, C. W. (1999). Designing, implementing, and reporting research: The significant role of literature review. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(6), 619–620. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199908)36:6<619::AID-TEA2>3.0.CO;2-B DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199908)36:6<619::AID-TEA2>3.0.CO;2-B
- Hafner-Burton, E. M., Kahler, M., & Montgomery, A. H. (2009). Network Analysis for International Relations. International Organization, 63(3), 559–592. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309090195 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309090195
- Harris, P. (1982). Structural Change in the Communication of Precedent among State Supreme Courts, 1870-1970. Social Networks, 4, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(82)90021-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(82)90021-1
- Katz, D. M., & Stafford, D. K. (2010). Hustle and Flow: A Social Network Analysis of the American Federal Judiciary. Ohio State Law Journal, 71(3), 457–507.
- Kemmerer, A. (2009). The Normative Knot 2.0: Metaphorological Explorations in the Net of Networks. German Law Journal, 10(4), 439–462. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001152 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001152
- Kjaer, P. F. (2009). Embeddedness through Network: A Critical Appraisal of the Network Concept in the Oeuvre of Karl-Heinz Ladeur. German Law Journal, 10(4), 483–500. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001176 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001176
- Knox, H., Savage, M., & Harvey, P. (2006). Social networks and the study of relations: networks as method, metaphor and form. Economy and Society, 35(1), 113–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140500465899 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140500465899
- Koniaris, M., Anagnostopoulos, I., & Vassiliou, Y. (2014). Legislation as a Complex Network: Modeling and Analysis of European Union Legal Sources. In R. Hoekstra (Ed.), Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Vol. 5, pp. 143--143-). IOS Press.
- Ladeur, K.-H. (1997). Towards a Legal Theory of Supranationality - The Viability of the Network Concept. European Law Journal, 3(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0386.00018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0386.00018
- Ladeur, K.-H. (2007). The Role of Contracts and Networks in Public Governance: The Importance of the Social Epistemology" of Decision Making. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 14(2), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.2979/gls.2007.14.2.329 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/gls.2007.14.2.329
- Latour, B. (2011). Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor- Network Theorist. International Journal of Communication, 5(February), 796–810.
- Levi, R., & Valverde, M. (2008). Studying Law by Association: Bruno Latour Goes to the Conseil d’État. Law & Social Inquiry, 33(3), 805–825. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00122.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00122.x
- Lewis, T. G. (2009). Network Science: Theory and Practice. Wiley Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470400791 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470400791
- Ogus, A. (2011). Legal Systems as Networks. In M. Faure & J. Smits (Eds.), Does Law Matter?: On Law and Economic Growth (pp. 165–177). Cambridge: Intersentia.
- Petersen, N., & Towfigh, E. V. (2017). Network Analysis and Legal Scholarship. German Law Journal, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200022124 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200022124
- Puig, S. (2018). Network Analysis and the Sociology of International Law. In M. Hirsch & A. Lang (Eds.), Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law (pp. 319–332). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00022
- Slaughter, A.-M. (2003). A Global Community of Courts. Harvard International Law Journal, 44(1), 191–219.
- Smith, T. A. C. (2005). The web of law. San Diego Legal Studies Research Paper, 6(11), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.642863 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.642863
- Tam Cho, W. K., & Fowler, J. H. (2010). Legislative Success in a Small World: Social Network Analysis and the Dynamics of Congressional Legislation. Journal of Politics, 72(1), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002238160999051X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S002238160999051X
- Teubner, G. (2009a). And if I by Beelzebub Cast out Devils,...": An Essay on the Diabolics of Network Failure. German Law Journal, 10(4), 395–416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001139 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001139
- Teubner, G. (2009b). Coincidentia Oppositorum: Hybrid Networks Beyond Contract and Organisation. In M. Amstutz & G. Teubner (Eds.), Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation (pp. 3–30). Portland: Hart Publishing.
- Victor, J. N., Ringe, N., & Haptonstahl, S. (2013). Multiplex Legislative Networks and the Power of Caucuses to Alleviate Partisan Polarization. Working Papers 69. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/pn_wp/69
- Watts, D. J. (2004). The “New†Science of Networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 30(1), 243–270. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.020404.104342 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.020404.104342
- Whalen, R. (2016). Legal Networks: The Promises and Challenges of Legal Network Analysis. Michigan State Law Review, 539–565.
- Winkels, R., & Lettieri, N. (Eds.). (2014). 2nd International Workshop on “Network Analysis in Law.†Retrieved from http://www.leibnizcenter.org/~winkels/NAiL2014-pre-proceedings.pdf
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Agnoloni, T. (2015). Network Analysis of Italian Constitutional Case Law. In Semantic Processing of Legal Texts (SPLeT-2014) (pp. 151–155).
Amstutz, M., & Teubner, G. (Eds.). (2009). Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation. Portland: Hart Publishing.
Augsberg, I., Viellechner, L., & Zumbansen, P. (2009). Introduction to the Special Issue: The Law of the Network Society. A Tribute to Karl-Heinz Ladeur. German Law Journal, 10(4), 305–309. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001085 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001085
Berry, F. S., Brower, R. S., Choi, S. O., Goa, W. X., Jang, H., Kwon, M., & Word, J. (2004). Three traditions of network research: What the public management research agenda can learn from other research communities. Public Administration Review, 64(5), 539–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00402.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00402.x
Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J., & Labianca, G. (2009). Network Analysis in the Social Sciences. Science, 323(April), 892–896. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165821 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165821
Buxbaum, R. M. (1993). Is “Network†a Legal Concept? Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 149(4), 698–705.
Castells, M. (2000). Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society. The British Journal of Sociology, 51(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/000713100358408 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/000713100358408
Chané, A.-L., & Sharma, A. (2017). Social Network Analysis in Human Rights Research. In B. A. Andreassen, H.-O. Sano, & S. McInerney-Lankford (Eds.), Research Methods in Human Rights: A Handbook (pp. 354–378). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793.00023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793.00023
Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2011). Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. New York: Little, Brown.
Cotterrell, R. (2008). Community as a Legal Concept? Some Uses of a Law-And-Community Approach in Legal Theory. In R. Cotterrell (Ed.), Living Law: Studies in Legal and Social Theory (pp. 17–28). Farnham: Ashgate.
Dallara, C., & Amato, R. (2012). Judicial and Legal Expert Networks. New Actors for a EU Area of Justice? In National Courts vis-a-vis EU Law: New Issues, Theories & Methods, European University Insitute (pp. 1–3).
de Visser, M., & Claes, M. (2013). Judicial Networks. In P. Larouche & P. Cserne (Eds.), National Legal Systems and Globalization (pp. 345–370). The Hague: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-885-9_13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-885-9_13
Dothan, S. (2018). Social Networks and the Enforcement of International Law. In M. Hirsch & A. Lang (Eds.), Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law (pp. 333–346). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00023
Druey, J. N. (2009). The Path to the Law - The Difficult Legal Access of Networks. In M. Amstutz & G. Teubner (Eds.), Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation (pp. 87–102). Portland: Hart Publishing.
Druzin, B. (2009). Buying Commercial Law: Choice of Law, Choice of Forum, and Network Externalities. Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law, 18, 131.
Economides, N. (1996). The Economics of Networks. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 14(September 1994), 673–699. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7187(96)01015-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7187(96)01015-6
Erickson, M. (2012). Network as Metaphor. International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, 5(2), 912–921.
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Gallagher, J. J., & Anderson, C. W. (1999). Designing, implementing, and reporting research: The significant role of literature review. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(6), 619–620. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199908)36:6<619::AID-TEA2>3.0.CO;2-B DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199908)36:6<619::AID-TEA2>3.0.CO;2-B
Hafner-Burton, E. M., Kahler, M., & Montgomery, A. H. (2009). Network Analysis for International Relations. International Organization, 63(3), 559–592. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309090195 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309090195
Harris, P. (1982). Structural Change in the Communication of Precedent among State Supreme Courts, 1870-1970. Social Networks, 4, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(82)90021-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(82)90021-1
Katz, D. M., & Stafford, D. K. (2010). Hustle and Flow: A Social Network Analysis of the American Federal Judiciary. Ohio State Law Journal, 71(3), 457–507.
Kemmerer, A. (2009). The Normative Knot 2.0: Metaphorological Explorations in the Net of Networks. German Law Journal, 10(4), 439–462. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001152 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001152
Kjaer, P. F. (2009). Embeddedness through Network: A Critical Appraisal of the Network Concept in the Oeuvre of Karl-Heinz Ladeur. German Law Journal, 10(4), 483–500. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001176 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001176
Knox, H., Savage, M., & Harvey, P. (2006). Social networks and the study of relations: networks as method, metaphor and form. Economy and Society, 35(1), 113–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140500465899 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140500465899
Koniaris, M., Anagnostopoulos, I., & Vassiliou, Y. (2014). Legislation as a Complex Network: Modeling and Analysis of European Union Legal Sources. In R. Hoekstra (Ed.), Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Vol. 5, pp. 143--143-). IOS Press.
Ladeur, K.-H. (1997). Towards a Legal Theory of Supranationality - The Viability of the Network Concept. European Law Journal, 3(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0386.00018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0386.00018
Ladeur, K.-H. (2007). The Role of Contracts and Networks in Public Governance: The Importance of the Social Epistemology" of Decision Making. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 14(2), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.2979/gls.2007.14.2.329 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/gls.2007.14.2.329
Latour, B. (2011). Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor- Network Theorist. International Journal of Communication, 5(February), 796–810.
Levi, R., & Valverde, M. (2008). Studying Law by Association: Bruno Latour Goes to the Conseil d’État. Law & Social Inquiry, 33(3), 805–825. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00122.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00122.x
Lewis, T. G. (2009). Network Science: Theory and Practice. Wiley Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470400791 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470400791
Ogus, A. (2011). Legal Systems as Networks. In M. Faure & J. Smits (Eds.), Does Law Matter?: On Law and Economic Growth (pp. 165–177). Cambridge: Intersentia.
Petersen, N., & Towfigh, E. V. (2017). Network Analysis and Legal Scholarship. German Law Journal, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200022124 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200022124
Puig, S. (2018). Network Analysis and the Sociology of International Law. In M. Hirsch & A. Lang (Eds.), Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law (pp. 319–332). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474493.00022
Slaughter, A.-M. (2003). A Global Community of Courts. Harvard International Law Journal, 44(1), 191–219.
Smith, T. A. C. (2005). The web of law. San Diego Legal Studies Research Paper, 6(11), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.642863 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.642863
Tam Cho, W. K., & Fowler, J. H. (2010). Legislative Success in a Small World: Social Network Analysis and the Dynamics of Congressional Legislation. Journal of Politics, 72(1), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002238160999051X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S002238160999051X
Teubner, G. (2009a). And if I by Beelzebub Cast out Devils,...": An Essay on the Diabolics of Network Failure. German Law Journal, 10(4), 395–416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001139 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200001139
Teubner, G. (2009b). Coincidentia Oppositorum: Hybrid Networks Beyond Contract and Organisation. In M. Amstutz & G. Teubner (Eds.), Networks: Legal Issues of Multilateral Co-operation (pp. 3–30). Portland: Hart Publishing.
Victor, J. N., Ringe, N., & Haptonstahl, S. (2013). Multiplex Legislative Networks and the Power of Caucuses to Alleviate Partisan Polarization. Working Papers 69. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/pn_wp/69
Watts, D. J. (2004). The “New†Science of Networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 30(1), 243–270. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.020404.104342 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.020404.104342
Whalen, R. (2016). Legal Networks: The Promises and Challenges of Legal Network Analysis. Michigan State Law Review, 539–565.
Winkels, R., & Lettieri, N. (Eds.). (2014). 2nd International Workshop on “Network Analysis in Law.†Retrieved from http://www.leibnizcenter.org/~winkels/NAiL2014-pre-proceedings.pdf