The remainder of this book will apply the concepts developed thus far to real-world cases of the establishment of judicial review. This chapter begins the inquiry by taking a wide perspective, briefly considering the history of a few well-known courts and their strategic interactions with other branches of government. The three subsequent chapters look deeply at three particular cases of the establishment and expansion of judicial review in Asia.

Judicial review has spread around the globe in three waves. The first wave was that of the United States and the constitutions of its various constituent states. Although judicial review was adopted in a couple of European polities thereafter, particularly after Kelsen's reconceptualization of constitutional review in the early twentieth century, it was not until a second wave of constitution writing after World War II that the practice spread broadly. The third wave of judicial review has been the recent adoption of judicial review in the postcommunist world and other new democracies. In discussing cases from these three waves, we will examine successful cases as well as an instance where judicial review failed to contribute to democratic development and consolidation, namely postcommunist Russia. For each, we will consider the extent of political diffusion as the environmental condition supporting judicial review.

My argument is that, other things being equal, the insurance theory of design and the diffusion theory of judicial power will explain the behavior of courts and politicians.