Scandinavian Working Papers in Business Administration

Working Papers,
Örebro University, School of Business

No 2024:7: Yet another case of Nordic exceptionalism?: A quantitative approach to an intra-Nordic and an international comparison of supreme courts’ constitutional reasoning

Nicklas Pettersson () and Katalin Kelemen ()
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Nicklas Pettersson: Örebro University School of Business, Postal: Örebro University, School of Business, SE - 701 82 ÖREBRO, Sweden
Katalin Kelemen: Örebro University, School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, Postal: Örebro University, School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, SE - 701 82 ÖREBRO, Sweden

Abstract: We present a systematic quantitative approach how to analyze the reasons that judges in Nordic countries publicly adduce for their decisions in constitutional matters, as implemented in the Nordic CONREASONProject. Based on encodings of forty (per court) purposively selected landmark cases, common traits and patterns of constitutional argumentative practices in each of the Nordic supreme courts were identi ed and an international comparison were made to courts from related studies. Our results provided strong support that, regarding speci c aspects (on a univariate level), one or more courts typically tended to deviate from the other Nordic courts. Also, in a multivariate worldwide comparison there were variation between the Nordic supreme courts. However, although not detached from other supreme courts, the Nordic supreme courts seemed to occupy an area of their own on the international map of constitutional reasoning.

Keywords: constitutional reasoning; quantitative comparative law; empirical legal studies; Nordic exceptionalism; realist decision-making

JEL-codes: C10; C38; C53; K10; K40; N40

Language: English

19 pages, August 14, 2024

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