Such analysis makes the basis of comparison explicit, but the different contexts and the possibility that the variables are differently significant cross-nationally usually remains unexplored. More holistic case studies attendant to context more clearly reveal the national significance of the material under discussion, but can make the basis of comparison difficult. In his introductory chapter, Herbert Jacob outlines comparative issues. He argues that courts make policy and serve social control and legitimation functions, and that each chapter will address those themes. The chapters rely on stories to get points across.
Some stories highlight issues within the legal system.
Herbert Jacob discusses the criminal justice system in the United States by taking the reader through a case. In his chapter on Britain, Herbert Kritzer provides stories to illustrate the significance of judicial review, which is largely procedural overview of administrative action and which has been significant in creating a sense that the courts are now deeply implicated in politics. These stories make the material of the legal system accessible in a way that would be useful in teaching. Other stories are dramatic episodes from within individual legal systems. For example, Doris Marie Provine in her chapter on France provides an extended discussion of the distribution in France of HIV contaminated blood.