Comparative Public Law Research in Israel: A Gaze Westwards

Abstract

This paper offers a typology of comparative law research and assesses the state of this body of research in one Asian country – the state of Israel. To identify the work that should be considered “comparative”, I classifiy studies so considered into three groups. This typology, followed by an overview of of the state’s polity and legal system, leads to an assessment of the trends of comparative public law research. Relying on a first-of-its kind quantitative study of publications in English in the field of public law that compare at least two systems, the article shows that the compared systems in Israeli comparative legal research are predominantly Western, and that material from the United States by far outweighes all other sources. The article then considers several possible reasons for the limited gaze Eastwards and beyond the United States, granting special attention to the cultural “Americanization” of Israel, likely to be evident in other countries. I conclude by pointing directions for future research, including the expansion of the findings in Israel’s public law scholarship to other fields of law; the comparison of these findings with those of similar systems in Asia and beyond; and the possible ways legal education may promote the development of Eastern-bound comparative exercise.