Comparing laws cross-nationally elucidates how they restrain political and societal actors and how actors may use law instrumentally to reach their goals. The Article analyzes the extant use of comparative law in political science and describes areas where a more in-depth comparative study of law may enhance understandings of how law shapes politics, particularly in the areas of governance, judicial behavior, rights protection, and democratic transitions and breakdowns. For meaningful use of comparative law in the study of politics, scholars must use causal research designs for cross-country analysis and rigorously choose cases for more detailed within-country qualitative analyses. Understanding how laws vary cross-nationally and what differences matter has the potential to shape theories and explanations of the explosive and sometimes subtle political changes witnessed in the twenty-first century.

中文翻译：

---

比较法在政治学中的作用

跨国比较法律阐明了它们如何约束政治和社会行为者，以及行为者如何有效地使用法律来实现其目标。文章分析了比较法在政治学中的现有应用，并描述了对法律进行更深入的比较研究可以增强对法律如何塑造政治的理解的领域，特别是在治理、司法行为、权利保护和民主转型领域和故障。为了在政治研究中有意义地使用比较法，学者们必须使用因果研究设计进行跨国分析，并严格选择案例进行更详细的国内定性分析。