I work in the fields of comparative law and politics, and international law and
politics. I am interested in how rule systems emerge and evolve over time, with what
consequences for human society. Most of my research approaches this generic question
through focusing on how new legal systems develop. The best introduction is
"Judicialization and the Construction of Governance" (written in 1996 and
finally published in 1999), available below.
My most recent book is A Europe of Rights: The Impact of the ECHR on National Legal
Systems (OUP, 2008). Other books include The Birth of Judicial Politics in France (OUP,
1992), European Integration and Supranational Governance (OUP, 1998), Governing with
Judges: Constitutional Politics in Europe (OUP, 2000), The Institutionalization of Europe
(OUP, 2001), The Politics of Delegation (2002), On Law, Politics, and Judicialization
(OUP, 2003), and The Judicial Construction of Europe (OUP, 2004).
Current projects include: a series of papers on balancing and proportionality; a book -
Global Constitutionalism and Judicial Power (OUP); a book on the judicialization of
arbitration; and new research on the relationship between corporate codes of conduct and
transnational contracts.
One major strain of my work is the attempt to develop a comparative social science of
judicial politics; the book, On Law, Politics and Judicialization (OUP, 2002),
co-authored with Martin Shapiro, provides an overview. My research is typically designed
to develop theory or to test hypotheses derived from causal theory. As in my book, The
Judicial Construction of Europe, OUP, 2004, I blend quantitative methods, case studies,
process tracing, and doctrinal analysis, as appropriate. Thus, some of the pieces
available below are also classified under the rubric, "empirical legal
studies."
Data Sets on Litigating EU Law: Thomas Brunnel and I have compiled three comprehensive
data sets on the activities of the European Court of Justice, and the adjudication of EU
law, under Articles 226 (infringement proceedings - brought by the Commission against a
Member State), 230 (annulment actions in administrative law brought by individuals and
companies against the EU), and 234 (preliminary references from national judges to the
ECJ). We collected these data over the course of 12 years, and they are unavailable
outside of the Court, which does not provide public access to the raw information. The
home for these data is the Robert Schuman Centre, the European University Institute. The
datesets, accompanying codebooks, and papers providing summary analyses of the data can
be found here: http://www.eu-newgov.org/datalists/deliverables_detail.asp?Project_ID=26.
Since 1996, scholars have used these data in a wide variety of research projects,
including doctoral dissertations, books, and articles in economics, law, sociology, and
political science.
My faculty page at the Yale Law School: http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/stonesweet.htm
My Homepage: http://islandia.law.yale.edu/alecstonesweet/index.html
Myspace music (for info on my recordings and samples of the music):
http://www.myspace.com/alecstonesweet
For lovers of petanque, see my writings at: http://www.labouleny.com/.
1. Recent Papers
2. General
3. Comparative Constitutional Law
4. European Integration and the Court of Justice
5. The European Convention on Human Rights
6. International Relations and Organization
7. Lex Mercatoria, Arbitration, Private Transnational Governance
8. Empirical Legal Studies
