The EU rule of law crisis from an empirical perspective: Exploring the contours of a social science that does not yet exist

The European Union (EU) is in a serious rule of law crisis. This is not only important from a legal perspective, but also raises important sociological questions. Yet, now that we need empirical answers more than ever, our methodological toolbox is still mostly empty. The aim of this chapter, therefore, is to explore the contours of an empirical approach to the rule of law. We develop this new ‘social science that does not yet exist’ in three steps: (1) we focus on the social foundations of the rule of law; (2) we introduce a Living Rule of Law approach; and (3) we use a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The chapter concludes that this empirical approach is not only relevant for our understanding of the EU rule of law crisis, but may also contribute to an interdisciplinary research agenda for study of EU law in general.