eBook

Building the judiciary

Crowe, Justin

2012

Overview

How did the federal judiciary transcend early limitations to become a powerful institution of American governance? How did the Supreme Court move from political irrelevance to political centrality?Building the Judiciaryuncovers the causes and consequences of judicial institution-building in the United States from the commencement of the new government in 1789 through the close of the twentieth century. Explaining why and how the federal judiciary became an independent, autonomous, and powerful political institution, Justin Crowe moves away from the notion that the judiciary is exceptional in the scheme of American politics, illustrating instead how it is subject to the same architectonic politics as other political institutions. Arguing that judicial institution-building is fundamentally based on a series of contested questions regarding institutional design and delegation, Crowe develops a theory to explain why political actors seek to build the judiciary and the conditions under which they are successful. He both demonstrates how the motivations of institution-builders ranged from substantive policy to partisan and electoral politics to judicial performance, and details how reform was often provoked by substantial changes in the political universe or transformational entrepreneurship by political leaders. Embedding case studies of landmark institution-building episodes within a contextual understanding of each era under consideration, Crowe presents a historically rich narrative that offers analytically grounded explanations for why judicial institution-building was pursued, how it was accomplished, and what--in the broader scheme of American constitutional democracy--it achieved.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: Act of Congress / Amendment / American Government / Appellate court / Appellate jurisdiction / Article Three of the United States Constitution / Associate Justice / Attempt / Cambridge University Press / Chief Justice / Circuit judge (England and Wales) / Constitutional amendment / Constitutionality / Courts / Courts -- United States -- History / Democratic-Republican Party / Federal Court (Canada) / Federal courts / Federal courts (Germany) / Federal government of the United States / Federal judge / Federal jurisdiction (United States) / Federal law / Felix Frankfurter / Gilded Age / Governance / Habeas corpus / History / History of law / Hostility / Institution / Institutions / Jacksonian democracy / JPA / Judicial activism / Judicial Branch / Judicial independence / Judicial Power / Judiciary / Judiciary Act of 1789 / Jurisdiction / LAW / LAW / Judicial Power / LAW / Legal History / Law of the United States / Lawmaking / Laz / Legal History / Legislation / Legislative session / Legislator / Legislature / LNAA1 / Multitude / National Government (United Kingdom) / Nomination / Oliver Ellsworth / Oxford University Press / Policy / Political climate / Political conditions / Political economy / Political institutions / Political leaders / Political party / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Judicial Branch / Politician / Politics / Politics of the United States / Precedent / Prize Cases / Procedural law / Procedure (Law) / Progressive Era / Provision (contracting) / Recess appointment / Reconstruction Era / Regime / Repeal / Slavery / State court (United States) / State law (United States) / Statute / Supreme Court of the United States / The Business of the Supreme Court / Theda Skocpol / Thomas Jefferson / Treaty / U.S.A / United States / United States federal judge / United States House Committee on the Judiciary / Whigs (British political party)
• ISBN: 9780691152936, 0691152934, 9780691152929, 0691152926, 9781400842575, 1400842573