The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research

The early years of the first decade of the twenty-first century saw the emergence and rapid development of a movement that labeled itself “Empirical Legal Studies” (ELS). This book acknowledges the diversity of empirical investigation of law, legal systems, and other legal phenomena. In particular, there are at least three approaches and research groupings that predate the contemporary ELS movement, which may be respectively identified as socio-legal/law and society (an interdisciplinary movement with strong roots in sociology but including scholars from a wide range of traditional disciplines including law), empirically oriented law-and-economics, and judicial behavior/politics. This book also explores three key dimensions of policing: order management, crime management, and security management. Finally, it concludes by identifying some emerging trends in the organization and conduct of police work as policing organizations seek to reconfigure their capacities and capabilities to meet new challenges. The phrase “empirical legal research” in the title, The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research, is designed both to reflect and to celebrate the healthy pluralism of empirical approaches to the study of law and legal phenomena.