Both civil law and common law have had cases of legalism. In the West, a way of analyzing legal questions is based on abstract “logical” reasoning that focuses on the relevant legal text, such as a constitution, law, or case law, rather than on the social, economic, or political context.

Legalism may support the idea that there is already a unique “right answer” to any legal problem in the authoritative body of legal materials. In legalism, it is the judge’s job to find the answer to a legal question by following a set of rules.