Reconsidering Comparative Methodology in Administrative Law

Abstract

What are the forms of comparison in administrative law? Which impact do methodological approaches, both theoretical and practical, on comparative research in administrative law? This article proposes some reflexions on these questions, also considering the historical origins of comparison in administrative law. Unlike private and constitutional law, administrative law is a young, comparative legal discipline, and this is one of the main reasons because the interest in comparison in administrative law has been neglected until the beginning of the 1990s of last century. Global issues-such as migrations, international terrorism, wars, environmental changes or recent economic crises-require a rethinking of comparative analysis from a pluri-methodological (and multidisciplinary) point of view. In the second part of the article, I will try to analyze the use of comparative law methodology for administrative law research.