Do the haves still come out ahead: Galanter revisited
The article ‘Why the ‘haves’ come out ahead: speculations on the limits of legal change’, by Marc Galanter, was published in 1974 in The Law & Society Review. This article contains some groundbreaking hypotheses as to the distinction between one-shotters and repeat-players. The aim of this paper was to examine the extent to which these statements were confirmed or challenged in later empirical research. The general proposition that repeat-players more often win than one-shotters, had a cross-national value in countries with a common law tradition. In Continental Europe, where the empirical research is much less extensive, confirmation was also found. Despite the criticism, one cannot deny that the article of Galanter is still important today. It should make the legislator aware of the weaker position of the one-shotter and encourage him to try to strengthen this position.