Overview
Is the American judiciary still the least dangerous branch, as Alexander Hamilton and legal scholar Alexander Bickel characterized it? Unlike legislatures or administrative agencies, courts do not make policy so much as direct and redirect policy as it is implemented. The judicial contribution to policymaking involves the infusion of constitutional rights into the realm of public policy, and as the government has grown, the courts have become more powerful from doing more and more of this. Powers and Rothman explore the impact of the federal courts, providing a brief account of the development of constitutional law and an overview of the judiciary's impact in six controversial areas of public policy. •Busing •Affirmative action •Prison reform •Mental health reform •Procedural reforms in law enforcement •Electoral redistricting In each of these areas, the authors review significant cases that bear on the particular policy, exploring the social science evidence to assess the impact of the courts on policies—and the consequences of that intervention. Powers and Rothman conclude that judicial intervention in public policy has often brought about undesirable consequences, sometimes even for the intended beneficiaries of government intervention.
Full Product Details
Author: Stephen P. Powers , Stanley Rothman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint: Praeger Publishers Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.70cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.516kg
ISBN: 9780275975364
ISBN 10: 0275975363
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 30 November 2002
Recommended Age: From 7 to 17 years
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand 
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Table of Contents
Preface Introduction: Hamilton, Bickel, Democracy and the Courts Hamilton's Wager and the Rise of Judicial Activism Brown, Busing, and the Consequences of Desegregation Affirmative Action and the Consequences of Racial Preference Prisoners' Rights and the Consequences of Correctional Reform Mental Health and the Consequences of Deinstitutionalization The Courts and Criminal Procedure Courts, Voting Rights, and the Consequences of Racial Redistricting The Courts and Institutional Reform Bibliography Index
Reviews
This book is a comprehensive and penetrating analysis of judicial intervention into policy arenas normally reserved for legislatures. Its scope is unusually broad, covering judicial activism in school desegregation, affirmative action, voting, mental health, and prison reform. While sometimes critical of judicial excesses, the discussion is balanced by acknowledging the necessity of court action after legislative default, especially in the civil rights area. The writing avoids legal terms and technicalities, producing a very approachable and useful text for all students of social policy and constitutional law. -David J. Armor Professor of Public Policy School of Public Policy George Mason University
Author Information
STEPHEN P. POWERS is Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Social and Political Change, Smith College. He is coauthor, with Stanley Rothman, of a number of articles as well as Hollywood's America: Social and Political Themes in Motion Pictures. STANLEY ROTHMAN is Mary Huggins Gamble Professor Emeritus of Government and Director of the Center for the Study of Social and Political Change, Smith College. He has authored, coauthored, or edited more than 15 books and 150 articles and reviews. His books range in topics from Environmental Cancer: A Political Disease? to Prime Time: How TV Portrays American Culture.
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