| Description |
1 online resource (205 pages) |
| Series |
Dilemmas in American Politics |
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Dilemmas in American politics.
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| Contents |
Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Tables and Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction A Five-Week Election Night Ends Up in the Supreme Court; 1 The Supreme Court: Law or Politics?; Defining the Dilemma; Making Public Policy: Does the Supreme Court Take Part?; The Supreme Court; Unraveling the Dilemma; Statutory Construction: Changing the Meaning; Judicial Review; Overturning Precedent; Interpreting and Revising Constitutional Provisions; Evaluating the Role of the Supreme Court; Conclusion; 2 The Historical Dimension of the Dilemma |
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The Marshall Court (1801â#x80;#x93;1835)The Taney Court (1836â#x80;#x93;1864); Substantive Due Process; The Preferred Position Doctrine: Selective Judicial Activism; The Burger and Rehnquist Courts: Return to Restraint?; Conclusion; 3 The Democratic Dimension of the Dilemma: Unelected Policymaking; Democratic Theory and the Supreme Court; Policymaking Against Majority Will; Review Compatible with Democratic Values; Deliberately Undemocratic; Are the Elected Branches Democratic?; The Practical Realities of American Politics; A Pluralist Role for the Supreme Court |
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Rights and Liberties: The Province of the Supreme CourtDemocratic Concerns Revisited; Conclusion; 4 The Institutional Dimension of the Dilemma: Constitutional and Self-Imposed Limitations; The Limits of the Judicial Branch; Jurisdiction; Justiciability; Checks and Balances; Exposing the Supreme Court; The Power and Potential of the Supreme Court; Conclusion; 5 The Judicial Capacity Dimension of the Dilemma: Does the Supreme Court Have the Ability to Make Policy?; The Supreme Court: Powerful Enough or Too Weak?; The Supreme Court's Ability to Make Policy; Assessing Judicial Capacity |
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The Indictment Against the JudiciaryViable Alternatives to the Judiciary; The Case for Relative Capacity; Is Capacity A Barrier?; Conclusion; 6 The Individual Dimension of the Dilemma: The Bases for Decisions; The Dilemma for the Individual Justice; Legal Factors in Decisionmaking; Problems with the Legal Factors; Extralegal Factors in Decisionmaking; Relying on the Constitution: Legal or Extralegal?; Reconciling the Two Perspectives; Conclusion; 7 Toward Resolving the Dilemma: A Return to the Recent Past; The Mysterious Branch of Government Nobody Knows |
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Recognizing the Constraints and PotentialDesigning a Role for the Supreme Court; Protecting the Court's Legitimacy; References; About the Author; Index |
| Summary |
When the Supreme Court's effectively decided the presidential election of 2000, it decision illustrated a classic question in American politics: what is the appropriate role for the Supreme Court? The dilemma is between judicial activism, the Court's willingness to make significant changes in public policy, and judicial restraint, the Court's willingness to confine the use and extent of its power. While the Framers of the Constitution felt that the judiciary would be the "least dangerous branch" of government, many have come to the conclusion that courts govern America, a notion at odds with democratic government. Richard Pacelle traces the historical ebb and flow of the Court's role in the critical issues of American politics: slavery, free speech, religion, abortion, and affirmative action. Pacelle examines the arguments for judicial restraint, including that unelected judges making policy runs against democratic principles, and the arguments for judicial activism, including the important role the court has played as a protector of minority rights. Pacelle suggests that there needs to be a balance between judicial activism and restraint in light of the constraints on the institution and its power. Stimulating and sure to generate discussion, The Supreme Court in American Politics is a concise supplemental text for American Government and Judicial Politics course |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
United States. Supreme Court
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Judicial power.
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Judicial power
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| SUBJECT |
United States. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n78095330
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| Subject |
United States
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780429964435 |
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0429964439 |
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9780429975516 |
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0429975511 |
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