The U.S. Supreme Court and the Judicial Review of Congress: Two Hundred Years in the Exercise of the Court's Most Potent PowerP. Lang, 2008 - 199 pages This book examines, from a behavioral perspective, the U.S. Supreme Court's exercise of the power of judicial review over Congress across two hundred years of the Court's history, testing the major competing theories in political science - the attitudinal model and the strategic approach - through systematic empirical analysis. Exploring the major trends in the Court's use of this power over time, the book examines a broad range of questions concerning the countermajoritarian nature of this power, and provides an analysis of each of the individual justices' behavior along several dimensions of the power, such as the use of judicial review to protect minority rights against majority intrusion. The book concludes that the Court has shown a high level of deference to Congress, with notable historic highs and lows, and generally that the exercise of the power has been less countermajoritarian than is usually assumed. Its analyses find the strongest level of support for the attitudinal approach to judicial decision making, but also concludes that strategic concerns cannot be dismissed, especially for the more recent Courts. |
Contents
The Norm of Deference and its Contours | 23 |
Activist or Restraintist? The Justices on the Bench | 59 |
An Initial Exploration | 103 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action Amendment American Political analysis Appointments argue attitudinal average behavior bench challenge Chapter chief justice civil liberties civil rights Civil Rights/Liberties claims coded Congress congressional statutes Congruence conservative considered consistent constitutional criminal decisions deference delineation Democrats difference direction earns Economic Activity effect empirical Epstein evidence examine exercise expect experience federalism four Human Rights hypotheses identify ideological included independence influences institutional issue areas John Journal judges judicial review justice's Keith largely least less liberal majority measures moderate norm overall party patterns percent Percentage period policy preferences Political Political Science preferences present president Press protect Quarterly range regard Rehnquist Court Republican Research rights claims scores Segal significant Social Spaeth strategic strike strong Supreme Court Table Tate Taxation Tradition United University variable vote to nullify Votes to Uphold Warren York