Visions of Judicial Review

A Comparative Examination of Courts and Policy in Democracies

Benjamin Bricker (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

188 Seiten

2016
ECPR Press (Verlag)
978-1-78552-147-8 (ISBN)

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Judicial review is increasingly prevalent in modern democratic government. Yet with unelected judges reviewing – and potentially overturning – the work of the people’s representatives, it also has long been, in Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ words, `the gravest and most delicate’ task that courts undertake. This book establishes a framework to consider the value of judicial review in modern democracy, grouping answers to this question into one of three main arguments, or `visions’ for judicial review: legalist; rights-protecting; and majoritarian. The strength of these visions is then tested with an original dataset of constitutional court outcomes from four European courts – Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Latvia – to determine whether any vision meets its promise. In fact, there is surprising support for the potentially majoritarian benefits of judicial review – a finding that challenges much of our existing theory regarding the value of the courts in modern democracy.

Benjamin Bricker is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He received his PhD from Washington University in St Louis and his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois.

List of Figures and Tables vii

List of Abbreviations ix

Acknowledgements xi

Chapter One – Introduction: Constitutional Review in Democratic Government 1

Chapter Two – Majoritarian or Counter-Majoritarian? Visions for Judicial Review 15

Chapter Three – Background: Constitutional Courts in Eastern Europe 49

Chapter Four – Beginnings: Majoritarianism and Rights Protection 65

Chapter Five – The Public Will? Testing a Majoritarian Vision of Judicial Review 87

Chapter Six – Institutional Incentives and the Choices Judges Make:Career-Oriented Judging 109

Chapter Seven – The Use of Precedent in Constitutional Courts:Legalism in Action? 129

Conclusion – The Visions of Judicial Review Considered 147

Bibliography 153

Index 171

Erscheint lt. Verlag	26.1.2016
Verlagsort	Colchester
Sprache	englisch
Gewicht	141 g
Themenwelt	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
	Recht / Steuern ► Öffentliches Recht ► Verfassungsverfahrensrecht
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	1-78552-147-0 / 1785521470
ISBN-13	978-1-78552-147-8 / 9781785521478
Zustand	Neuware