Reconsidering Judicial Independence
Files
Description
Judicial independence exists primarily as a rhetorical notion rather than as a subject of sustained, organized study. Many scholars assume that a judiciary with at least some independence is important to the protection of property rights and individual liberty, not to speak of the maintenance of the structure of democratic governance itself. But legal writing on the subject all too often seems part of a polemical debate between contending camps. Very little of this work even acknowledges the existence of state courts, let alone considers how the variety of arrangements governing state judiciaries might affect general theories of judicial independence. Meanwhile, the political science literature has not been immune to its own brand of extremism, much work failing to acknowledge that different courts may play different roles and, more generally, viewing the question of judicial independence in all or nothing terms. Good, serious work about judicial independence is available in both the legal and political science literatures, but there is too little of it, and too often the products have been like ships passing in the night. Our goal in this chapter is to reinvigorate research about judicial independence by taking account of the contributions of multiple disciplines without being captive to the traditions of any of them. We are indebted not only to those whose work is presented in this volume or cited here, but to all of the participants in the conference out of which this volume has emerged. Interdisciplinary scholarship is fashionable. Too often it has the appearance of window dressing. Hopeful that we may avoid such criticism ourselves, we take an interdisciplinary approach because we are persuaded that it offers the best hope for genuine understanding of, and wise public policy concerning, the role of the judiciary in American society.
Source Publication
Judicial Independence at the Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Source Editors/Authors
Stephen B. Burbank, Barry Friedman
Publication Date
2002
Recommended Citation
Burbank, Stephen B. and Friedman, Barry, "Reconsidering Judicial Independence" (2002). Faculty Chapters. 636.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/636
