The crisis in law-and-development studies reflects a more general crisis in the West, a loss of faith in Western ideals and institutions. Although law-and-development theory is based on Western concepts and concerns, many theorists have self-defeatingly blamed the West for the problems of developing countries. The law-and-development movement arose out of the demise of modernization theory and was influenced by Marxist dependency theory. Law-and-development theory has shown the importance as well as the limitations of the rule of law for economic and political development.
