Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T21:28:12.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Compared to What? Judicial Review and Other Veto Points in Contemporary Democratic Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2015

David Watkins  and
Scott Lemieux
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many democratic and jurisprudential theorists have too often uncritically accepted Alexander Bickel's notion of “the countermajoritarian difficulty” when considering the relationship between judicial review and democracy; this is the case for arguments both for and against judicial review. This framework is both theoretically and empirically unsustainable. Democracy is not wholly synonymous with majoritarianism, and judicial review is not inherently countermajoritarian in the first place. In modern democratic political systems, judicial review is one of many potential veto points. Since all modern democratic political systems contain veto points, the relevant and unexplored question is what qualities might make a veto point relatively democratic.

Proceeding on the assumption that democracy's primary normative value is found in its opposition to domination by both state and private actors, we make a preliminary effort to delineate what qualities a democratic veto point might have, identifying five criteria, and evaluate judicial review using these criteria. We conclude that judicial review's performance against these criteria is decidedly mixed, but in the final balance is likely to be a modest net positive for democracy, particularly when compared to other veto points commonly found in contemporary democratic political systems.

Type
Articles
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 312 - 326
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arenberg, Richard A., and Dove, Robert B.. 2012. Defending the Filibuster. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Balkin, Jack. 2011. Living Originalism. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bellamy, Richard. 2007. Political Constitutionalism: A Republican Defense of the Constitutionality of Democracy. London: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellamy, Richard 2009. “The Republic of Reasons: Public Reasoning, Depoliticization, and Non-domination.” In Legal Republicanism: National and International Perspectives, ed. Basson, Samantha and Marti, Jose. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bickel, Alexander. 1962. The Least Dangerous Branch? The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics. Binghamton, NY: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Binder, Sarah A., and Smith, Steven S.. 1997. Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the United States Senate. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Bower, Alicia. 2012. “Unconstitutionally Crowded? Brown v. Plata and How the Supreme Court Pushed Back to Keep Prison Litigation Reform Alive.” Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 45: 555–67.Google Scholar
Brettschneider, Corey. 2007. Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self-Government. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Crowe, Justin. 2012. Building the Judiciary: Law, Courts, and the Politics of Institutional Development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dawood, Yasmin. 2008. “The Antidomination Model and the Judicial Oversight of Democracy.” Georgetown Law Review 96(5): 1411–85.Google Scholar
Den Otter, Ronald. 2009. Judicial Review in an Age of Moral Pluralism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doherty, Kathleen, and Pevnick, Ryan. 2014. “Are There Good Procedural Objections to Judicial Review?” Journal of Politics 76(1): 86–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1996. Freedom’s Law: A Moral Reading of the American Constitution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Eisgruber, Christopher. 2001. Constitutional Self-Government. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Eisgruber, Christopher. 2002. “Democracy and Disagreement: A Comment on Jeremy Waldron’s Law and Disagreement.” Journal of Legislation and Public Policy 6(1): 35–49.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 2013. Securities against Misrule: Juries, Assemblies, Elections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ely, John Hart. 1980. Democracy and Distrust: A Theory of Judicial Review. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Epp, Charles. 1998. The Rights Revolution: Lawyers, Activists and Supreme Courts in Comparative Perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fisk, Catharine, and Chemerinsky, Edwin. 1997. “The Filibuster.” Stanford Law Review 49(2): 200–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fund, John. 2004. “Republican Rot: Is Congress’s GOP Majority becoming as corrupt as the Democrats were?” Wall Street Journal , February 9. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122470828374659749.html, last accessed December 1, 2013.Google Scholar
Friedman, Barry. 2005. “The Birth of an Academic Obsession: The History of the Countermajoritarian Difficulty, Part Five.” Yale Law Journal 112(2): 153–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Barry. 2010. The Will of the People: How Public Opinion Has Influenced the Supreme Court and Shaped the Meaning of the Constitution. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Google Scholar
Gillman, Howard. 2002. “How Political Parties Can Use the Courts to Advance Their Agendas: Federal Courts in the United States, 1875–1891.” American Political Science Review 96(3): 511–24.Google Scholar
Graber, Mark. 1993. “The Nonmajoritarian Difficulty: Legislative Deference to the Judiciary.” Studies in American Political Development 7(1): 35–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graber, Mark. 2006. “From the Countermajoritarian Difficulty to Juristocracy and the Political Construction of Judicial Power.” Maryland Law Review 65(1): 1–14.Google Scholar
Hacker, Jacob, and Pierson, Paul. 2011. Winner-Take-All Politics. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Harel, Alon. 2003. “Rights Based Judicial Review: A Democratic Justification.” Law and Philosophy 22(3/4): 247–76.Google Scholar
Hiebert, Janet. 2002. Charter Conflicts: What Is Parliament’s Role? Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.Google Scholar
Hiebert, Janet. 2006. “Parliamentary Bills of Rights: An Alternative Model?” Modern Law Review 69(1): 7–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschl, Ran. 2004. Towards Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hirschl, Ran. 2005. “Constitutionalism, Judicial Review, and Progressive Change: A Rejoinder to McCain and Fleming.” Texas Law Review 84: 871–907.Google Scholar
Hirschl, Ran. 2014. Comparative Matters: The Renaissance in Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Honohan, Isuelt. 2009. “Republicans, Rights and Constitutions: Is Judicial Review Compatible with Republican Self Government?” In Legal Republicanism: National and International Perspectives, ed. Besson, Samantha and Marti, Jose Luis. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Horiuchi, Yusako. 2004. “Malapportionment and Income Inequality: A Cross National Analysis.” British Journal of Political Science 34(1): 179–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kateb, George. 1983. “Remarks on Robert B. McKay, ‘Judicial Review in a Liberal Democracy.’” In NOMOS XXV: Liberal Democracy, ed. Roland Pennock, J. and Chapman, John W.. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Kavanagh, Aileen. 2003. “Participation and Judicial Review: A Reply to Jeremy Waldron.” Law and Philosophy 22(5): 451–86.Google Scholar
Keating, Christine. 2011. Decolonizing Democracy: Transforming the Social Contract in India. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Keck, Thomas. 2007. “Party, Policy, or Duty: Why Does the Supreme Court Invalidate Federal Statutes?” American Political Science Review 101(2): 321–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingdon, John. 1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2d ed. New York: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Klarman, Michael. 2004. From Jim Crow To Civil Rights. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kramer, Larry. 2004. The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kyritsis, Dimitrios. 2006. “Representation and Waldron’s Objection to Judicial Review.” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 26(4): 733–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lain, Corinna Barrett. 2012. “Upside-Down Judicial Review.” Georgetown Law Journal 101(1): 114–85.Google Scholar
Lang, Amy. 2007. “But Is It for Real? The British Columbia Citizen’s Assembly as a Model of State-Sponsored Citizen Empowerment.” Politics and Society 35(1):35–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemieux, Scott, and Lovell, George. 2010. “Legislative Defaults: Interbranch Power Sharing and Abortion Politics.” Polity 42(2): 210–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemieux, Scott, and Watkins, David. 2009. “Beyond the ‘Countermajoritarian Difficulty’: Lessons from Contemporary Democratic Theory.” Polity 41(1): 30–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lever, Annabelle. 2009. “Democracy and Judicial Review: Are They Really Incompatible?” Perspectives on Politics 7(4): 805–23.Google Scholar
Lovell, George. 2003. Legislative Deferrals: Statutory Ambiguity, Judicial Power and American Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lovell, George, and Lemieux, Scott. 2006. “Assessing Juristocracy: Are Judges Rulers or Agents?” Maryland Law Review 65(1): 100–14.Google Scholar
Lovett, Frank, and Pettit, Philip. 2009. “Neorepublicanism: A Normative and Institutional Research Program.” Annual Review of Political Science 12: 11–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manfredi, Christopher P. 2000. Judicial Power and the Charter: Canada and the Paradox of Liberal Constitutionalism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Markell, Patchen. 2008. “The Insufficiency of Non-Domination.” Political Theory 36(1): 8–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormick, John. 2011. Machiavellian Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCain, Linda, and Fleming, James. 2005. “Constitutionalism, Judicial Review, and Progressive Change.” Texas Law Review 84: 833–70.Google Scholar
Ober, Josiah. 2008. “The Original Meaning of ‘Democracy’: The Capacity To Do Things, Not Majority Rule.” Constellations 15(1): 3–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peretti, Terri. 1999. In Defense of a Political Court. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Peretti, Terri. 2005. “An Empirical Analysis of Alexander Bickel’s The Least Dangerous Branch.” In The Judiciary and American Democracy: Alexander Bickel, the Countermajoritarian Difficulty, and Contemporary Constitutional Theory, ed. Ward, Kenneth and Castillo, Cecilia. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 1997. Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 2000. “Democracy, Electoral and Contestatory.” In Designing Democratic Institutions, ed. Shapiro, Ian and Macedo, Steven. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 2004. “Depoliticizing Democracy.” Ratio Juris 17(1): 52–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 2012. On the People’s Terms: A Republican Theory and Model of Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, Adam. 2010. Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Railton, Peter. 1983. “Judicial Review, Elites, and Liberal Democracy.” In NOMOS XXV: Liberal Democracy, ed. Roland Pennock, J. and Chapman, John W.. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Sadurski, Wojciech. 2008. Rights Before Courts: A Study of Constitutional Courts in Postcommunist States of Central and Eastern Europe. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Samuels, David, and Snyder, Richard. 2001. “The Value of a Vote: Malapportionment in Comparative Perspective.” British Journal of Political Science 10(4): 651–71.Google Scholar
Saward, Michael. 2003. “Enacting Democracy.” Political Studies 51(1): 161–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2005. “Democracy By Judiciary: Or, Why Courts Can Be More Democratic Than Parliaments.” In Rethinking the Rule of Law after Communism, ed. Czarnota, Adam, Krieger, Martin, and Sadurski, Wojciech. Budapest: Central European University Press.Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim Lane. 2009. “Parliamentary Supplements (Or Why Democracies Need More Than Parliaments).” Boston University Law Review 89(2): 795–826.Google Scholar
Schwartzberg, Melissa. 2014. Counting the Many: The Origins and Limits of Supermajority Rule. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Ian. 2003. The State of Democratic Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Ian. 2012. “On Nondomination.” Toronto Law Journal 62(2): 293–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, Shane, and Dunn, Kris. 2013. “Veto Players, the Policy-Making Environment, and the Expression of Authoritarian Attitude.” Political Studies 61(1): 119–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsebelis, George. 2002. Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 1988. Red, White and Blue: A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 1999. Taking the Constitution Away from the Courts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 2001. “Renormalizing Bush v. Gore: An Anticipatory Intellectual History.” Georgetown Law Journal 90(6): 113–25.Google Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 2005. “The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Regimes: Alexander Bickel and Cass Sunstein.” In The Judiciary and American Democracy: Alexander Bickel, the Countermajoritarian Difficulty, and Contemporary Constitutional Theory, ed. Ward, Kenneth and Castillo, Cecilia. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 2008. Weak Courts, Strong Rights: Judicial Review and Social Welfare Rights in Comparative Constitutional Law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Urbinati, Nadia. 2010. “Unpolitical Democracy.” Political Theory 38(1): 65–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vatter, Adrian. 2005. “Bicameralism and Policy Performance: The Effects of Cameral Structure in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of Legislative Studies 11(2): 194–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vermeule, Adrian. 2007. Mechanisms of Democracy: Institutional Design Writ Small. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vermeule, Adrian. 2011. The System of the Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 1999a. Law and Disagreement. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 1999b. The Dignity of Legislation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 2006. “The Core of the Case against Judicial Review.” Yale Law Journal 115(6): 1346–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 2012. “Bicameralism and the Separation of Powers.” Current Legal Problems 65(1): 31–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittington, Keith. 2009. Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy: The Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Constitutional Leadership in U.S. History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 1990. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 2000. Inclusion and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zurn, Christopher. 2007. Deliberative Democracy and the Institutions of Judicial Review. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar