The Taxonomy of Legal Systems under Effect of Globalization: Classification of China and the United States

This article examines the scope and nature of current global legal transformations as a result of economic globalization. It takes the idea that legal systems are already by nature highly impacted by economical, political, and societal developments as a starting point and continues to discuss in particular the legal consequences of economic global assimilation and the widespread decline of state sovereignty. Following these ideas, the article discusses how the current substantial legal transformations will affect the comparative method of classifying the legal systems of the world and suggests a modern, unbiased, and flexible model of taxonomy that is suitable to display the ongoing economic and legal globalization trends beyond Euro-American centrism. On the basis of this model of taxonomy, this article considers the classification of the United States and Chinese legal system and evaluates the historic factors that have formed them. In particular, special emphasis is directed towards the impact of professional, political, and traditional social norms and the degree of state sovereignty for each that led to the development of their respective legal systems today.