The existence of judicial review confronts scholars of political institutions, particularly scholars of law and judicial politics, with several important questions. Why do democracies like the US allow courts staffed by unelected judges to have the final say on all constitutional questions? Why do elected political institutions—notably Congress and the president—refrain from using their institutions prerogatives to curb or constrain courts? Existing research on these questions can be categorized into two groups. Independence-based theories of judicial review argue that some mechanism constrains the other branches of government to respect judicial review. Majoritarian theories of judicial review argue that governments can desire courts to exercise judicial review in ways that advance the government’s policy goals.
Vande Kamp, G. N. (2019). Essays on Judicial Review (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University).
