In Russia, as the confrontation over the constitutional distribution of authority raged, Boris Yeltsin's economic program regularly wended its way in and out of the Constitutional Court until Yeltsin finally suspended that court in the aftermath of his clash with the hard-line parliament. In Europe, French and German legislators and executives now routinely alter desired policies in response to or in anticipation of the pronouncements of constitutional courts. In Latin America and Africa, courts are--or will be-- important participants in ongoing efforts to establish constitutional rules...

This is one of the few book-length analyses of judicial review and public policy in very different parts of the world today. Donald W. Jackson and C. Neal Tate have gathered together respected scholars and set forth a framework for comparative analysis into the origins of judicial review, its use as a policy tool, and its exercise and impact in the policy-making process. Political scientists, public policy analysts, and public administrators will find this a thought-provoking study in comparative politics and public administration and a useful classroom text.

The text opens...