Synonyms
Introduction
Judicial review refers to the power provided to the judicial branch to formally examine and potentially overturn the work of the legislative or the executive branches of government, generally for nonconformity with the constitution or other higher sources of law. From its roots in the United States, the global spread of judicial review has been nothing short of transformative for modern governance, with courts as much as legislatures or governments now responsible for determining policies within society. Yet, both theoretically and practically, the institution of judicial review brings up difficult issues for modern government, particularly democratic government. Paraphrasing President Lincoln, democratic government can be thought of most directly as “government by the people and for the people.” However, through the process of judicial review, judges – unelected actors in nearly all societies – end up holding a veto over the laws...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bickel A (1962) The least dangerous branch. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis
Carrubba C, Gabel M, Hankla C (2008) Judicial behavior under political constraints: evidence from the European Court of Justice. Am Polit Sci Rev 102:435–452
Clark T (2011) The limits of judicial independence. Cambridge University Press, New York
Dahl R (1957) Decision-making in a democracy: the Supreme Court as a national policy-maker. J Public Law 6:279–295
Ely JH (1980) Democracy and distrust: a theory of judicial review. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Franklin C, Kosaki L (1989) Republican schoolmaster: the U.S. Supreme Court, public opinion, and abortion. Am Polit Sci Rev 83:751–771
Gibson J, Caldeira G (2009) Citizens, courts, and confirmations: positivity theory and the judgments of the American people. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Ginsburg T (2003) Judicial review in new democracies. Cambridge University Press, New York
Guarnieri C, Pederzoli P (2002) The power of judges: a comparative study of courts and democracy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Graber M (1993) The non-majoritarian difficulty: Legislative deference to the judiciary. Studies in American Political Development 7: 35–73
Hilbink L (2008) Judicial independence in authoritarian regimes: insights from Chile. In: Ginsburg T, Moustafa T (eds) Rule by law. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 102–131
Hönnige C (2009) The electoral connection: how the pivotal judge affects oppositional success at European constitutional courts. West Eur Polit 35:963–984
Klarman M (1997) Majoritarian judicial review: the entrenchment problem. Georgetown Law J 85:491–553
Rogers J (2001) Information and judicial review: a signaling game of legislative-judicial interaction. Am J Polit Sci 45:84–99
Rosenberg G (2008) The hollow hope: can courts bring about social change? 2nd edn. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Rytter J, Wind M (2011) In need of juristocracy? The silence of Denmark in the development of European legal norms. Int J Const Law 9:470–504
Shapiro M (1999) The success of judicial review and democracy. In: Shapiro M, Stone Sweet A (eds) On law, politics, and judicialization. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 149–183
Stone Sweet A (2000) Governing with judges. Oxford University Press, New York
Vanberg G (2005) The politics of constitutional review in Germany. Cambridge University Press, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Bricker, B. (2016). Judicial Review. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1034-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1034-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences