Law-and-economics: why Gordon Tullock prefers Napoleon Bonaparte over the Duke of Wellington; and why he may end up on St. Helena

Most scholars in the field of law-and-economics lean to the view that the common law is efficient. Tullock, however, argues that the common law is inefficient and suggests dramatic modifications to the American legal system, transforming it from a common law system to a civil code system and abandoning the adversarial proceedings in favor of an inquisitorial process. This essay summarizes and critically evaluates the thrusts of Tullock’s <CitationRef CitationID="CR28">1988</CitationRef> article and his <CitationRef CitationID="CR30">1997</CitationRef> book, which, together direct a full-frontal attack on the Anglo-Saxon common law system. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014