Historical Legal Studies and Society
Historical Legal Studies and Society is a research topic within Political Science and International Relations. Science Explorer counts 6.9k research works in it since 1950. 9.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to legal and social transformations in Europe, including legal history, social change, the influence of religion on law, the development of Nordic welfare states, the impact of the Reformation, ethical theory, constitutionalism, cultural encounters, family structures, and the status of European minorities.
- Legal History
- Social Change
- Religious Influence
- Nordic Welfare States
- Reformation
- Ethical Theory
- Constitutionalism
- Cultural Encounter
- Family Structures
- European Minorities
- Research works
- 6.9k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 664 per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 9.6% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +16% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Historical Legal Studies and Society research?
By volume, Germany and the United States publish the most (204 and 131 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Germany 204 works
- 2 United States 131 works
- 3 Finland 117 works
- 4 France 85 works
- 5 United Kingdom 75 works
- 6 Italy 62 works
- 7 Denmark 38 works
- 8 Norway 37 works
- 9 Sweden 35 works
- 10 Netherlands 35 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Historical Legal Studies and Society research?
By volume in 2022–2025, University of Helsinki publishes the most Historical Legal Studies and Society research, followed by Tampere University and University of Turku.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 University of HelsinkiFinland 31 works
- 2 Tampere UniversityFinland 20 works
- 3 University of TurkuFinland 19 works
- 4 University of MünsterGermany 16 works
- 5 University of BonnGermany 14 works
- 6 Finnish Society of Sciences and LettersFinland 13 works
- 7 Aarhus UniversityDenmark 13 works
- 8 University of OsloNorway 11 works
- 9 Uppsala UniversitySweden 10 works
- 10 University of CopenhagenDenmark 9 works
Who are the leading researchers in Historical Legal Studies and Society?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Historical Legal Studies and Society include Niklas Luhmann.
- 1 Niklas Luhmann Germany 2.3k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Historical Legal Studies and Society research done?
The largest centres of Historical Legal Studies and Society research in 2022–2025 are Helsinki (Finland), Turku (Finland), Paris (France) and Oslo (Norway). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tampere, Turku and Helsinki.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- TampereFI · 20.1 works54×
- TurkuFI · 25.4 works51×
- HelsinkiFI · 50.5 works42×
- OsloNO · 22.3 works14×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Historical Legal Studies and Society than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Historical Legal Studies and Society?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Oslo, Aarhus University and University of Helsinki score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of OsloNorway | 50.7 | 26.7% | 21.5× | 11 | +17.0% |
| 2 | Aarhus UniversityDenmark | 46.5 | 22.6% | 16.5× | 13 | +7.6% |
| 3 | University of HelsinkiFinland | 41.6 | 5.4% | 50.2× | 31 | +28.3% |
| 4 | University of MünsterGermany | 35.1 | 12.7% | 42.7× | 16 | +26.3% |
| 5 | University of CopenhagenDenmark | 35.0 | 12.2% | 12.1× | 9 | +35.5% |
| 6 | University of TurkuFinland | 32.0 | 1.7% | 65.1× | 19 | +35.6% |
| 7 | University of ViennaAustria | 27.3 | 3.9% | 16.5× | 9 | +66.7% |
| 8 | University of BonnGermany | 24.8 | 4.8% | 38.4× | 14 | — |
| 9 | Tampere UniversityFinland | 24.7 | 6.7% | 65.4× | 20 | -31.1% |
| 10 | Uppsala UniversitySweden | 23.9 | 0.0% | 17.6× | 10 | +54.2% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Historical Legal Studies and Society research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 16% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Historical Legal Studies and Society.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.