This book contributes to current debates on a major topic in comparative law and courts research that, despite its importance in and outside the scholarly world, remains subject to significant debate.
What is understood by judicial activism in different jurisdictions? Beyond a superficial agreement, are we talking about the same phenomenon across countries and systems (or over time), and to what extent? This book seeks to articulate a comparative perspective on judicial activism, bringing together a selection of theoretical and empirical studies across different socio-political and institutional contexts. The chapters not only demonstrate the complexity of the concept, but also illustrate the different meanings of judicial activism across different types of political regimes, legal systems, and judicial institutions. The book looks at three examples from western democracies with common law systems (the U.S., the U.K., and Canada), and then at six examples from civil law systems in Latin American countries with very different experiences with judicial activism, democracy, and liberal constitutionalism: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela. These case studies are analyzed with reference to a common conceptual framework, assisted by a beginning theoretical essay and two concluding cross-national studies highlighting different theoretical and methodological approaches. This book contributes to current debates on a major topic in comparative law and courts research that, despite its importance in and outside the scholarly world, remains subject to significant debate. The book should be useful for students, teachers, and researchers across a variety of disciplines – including Constitutional Law, Comparative Law, Comparative Politics, Judicial Politics, and Sociolegal Studies.
List of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgments Lori Hausegger/Raul
Sanchez Urribarri: Studying Judicial Activism in Comparative Perspective
Jeffrey K. Staton: Judicial Activism in Comparative Law and Politics
Richard L. Pacelle, Jr.: The Complementary Use of Judicial Activism and
Restraint in the United States Supreme Court Monica Lineberger: If You Give
a Mouse a Cookie, He Might Want a Glass of Milk: Judicial Activism in the
United Kingdom Troy Riddell/Lori Hausegger/Nicole Scott: Judicial Activism
in Canada: Overturning Precedent at the Lower Court Level Vicente F.
Benítez-R./Fabio Enrique Pulido-Ortiz/Pablo Rivas-Robledo: Judicial Activism
as the (Im)proper Use of Judicial Powers: A Look at the Colombian
Constitutional Court Bruce M. Wilson: Accountability Function and Rights
Realization: An Examination of Costa Ricas Assertive Apex Court Thomas R.
Bustamante/Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer: Judicial Activism as a Threat to the
Rule of Law Raul A. Sanchez Urribarri: Authoritarian Judicial Activism: A
Look at the Venezuelan Case under Chavismo Andrea Castagnola/Gabriela
Bonzi/Shirley Franco/Aníbal Pérez-Liñán: Judicial Activism in Paraguay: A
Reactive Form of Compensatory Justice Rebecca A. Reid: Judicial Activism in
Human Rights: IACtHR, Conventionality Control, and the Mexican Supreme Court
Lee Demetrius Walker: Measuring Judicial Legitimacy as an Explanatory
Factor of Judicial Activism Susan Achury: An Institutional Approach to
Judicial Activism Lori Hausegger/Raul Sanchez Urribarri: Concluding
Remarks: Towards a Comparative Theory of Judicial Activism Notes on
Contributors Index.
Lori Hausegger is Professor of Political Science at Boise State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Ohio State University, and a MA and BA from the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on judicial selection, judicial decision making and comparative courts with an emphasis on Canada.
Raul Sanchez-Urribarri is a Senior Lecturer in Legal Studies at La Trobe University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science (University of South Carolina), an LL.M. (Cambridge University), and a Law Degree (UCAB, Caracas). His research focuses on comparative law and courts in Latin America.
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