Between 1965 and 1990, federal judges in almost all of the states handed down sweeping rulings that affected virtually every prison and jail in the United States. Without a doubt judges were the most important prison reformers during this period. This book provides an account of this process, and uses it to explore the more general issue of the role of courts in the modern bureaucratic state. It provides detailed accounts of how the courts formulated and sought to implement their orders, and how this action affected the traditional conception of federalism, separation of powers, and the rule...

Across the world, political liberalism is being fought for, consolidated, and defended. Nations that have never enjoyed a liberal political society are constrained or inspired by international institutions to create one. Nations that have advanced towards and then retreated from political liberalism are pressed to regain lost ground. Nations that have recently shifted from authoritarian to liberal political systems are encouraged to lock in the transition through institutions and constitutions. Mature democracies are being encouraged to recover diminished freedoms in the face of terrorism and...

Across the globe law in all its variety is becoming more central to politics, public policy and everyday life. For over four decades, Robert A. Kagan has been a leading scholar of the causes and consequences of the march of law that is characteristic of late 20th and early 21st century governance. In this volume, top sociolegal scholars use Kagan's concepts and methods to examine the politics of litigation and regulation, both in the United States and around the world.

Through studies of civil rights law, tobacco politics, "Eurolegalism," Russian auto accidents, Australian...