Judicial Politics

This course provides an in-depth understanding of the social and political origins of judicial power and the growing role that courts play in democracies and autocracies. Adopting a comparative perspective, we will probe when and why citizens, social movements, and policymakers turn to the courts and support judicial power, what factors shape how judges make decisions, when judicial decisions beget compliance and defiance, and how courts shape regime politics like democratization, democratic backsliding, and autocratic consolidation. Throughout we will bring cutting-edge research to life with concrete examples: from domestic courts like the US Supreme Court to international courts like the European Court of Justice; from judicial politics in liberal democracies like Canada, to backsliding regimes like Hungary, to consolidated autocracies like Egypt.