Wirtschaftsrecht und Politische Ökonomie

In recent years, the “Law & Political Economy” movement has raised much attention at leading US law schools. It purports to become “the next big thing” in legal scholarship. The discussion has now reached Europe. This article sketches out the central assertions of the (allegedly) new methodological approach, which defines itself mainly in contrast to Law & Economics and aims to bring more prominence to the political dimensions of law. Especially with regard to economic law, however, the current literature on “Law & Political Economy” reveals certain ideologically motivated presuppositions as well as a partly reductionist perception of actual legal practice in areas such as antitrust law, corporate law and international economic law. Against this background, the article advocates for a broader interpretation of Law and Political Economy that reflects potential convergences with other institutionalist approaches including Law & Economics.