Constitutional Courts in Comparison: The US Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court

by Ralf Rogowski (Editor), Thomas Gawron (Editor)

Overview

Constitutional litigation in general attracts two distinct types of conflict: disputes of a highly politicized or culturally controversial nature and requests from citizens claiming a violation of a fundamental constitutional right. The side-by-side comparison between the U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court provides a novel socio-legal approach in studying constitutional litigation, focusing on conditions of mobilisation, decision-making and implementation.

This updated and revised second edition includes a number of new contributions on the political status of the courts in their democratic political cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785330964
Publisher:	Berghahn Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	316
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ralf Rogowski is Director of the Law and Sociology Programme and Professor of Law in the School of Law at the University of Warwick. His recent books include The Shape of the New Europe (co-authored 2004), Die Wirkung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (Co-authored with T. Gawron 2007), Reflexive Labour Law in the World Society (2013), and The Sustainability of the European Social Model (Co-edited 2015).

Thomas Gawron is Lecturer in law at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW), Berlin. He has published Die Wirkung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (Co-authored with R. Rogowski 2007).

Table of Contents

Foreword (second edition)
Ralf Rogowski and Thomas Gawron

Foreword (first edition)
Mark Tushnet

List of Illustrations
List of Tables

Chapter 1. Constitutional Litigation as Dispute Processing - Comparing the U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court
Ralf Rogowski and Thomas Gawron

PART I: ACCESS AND CASE SELECTION

Chapter 2. Constitutional Litigation in the United States
Robert A. Kagan and Gregory Elinson

Chapter 3. Access to the German Federal Constitutional Court
Werner Heun

Chapter 4. Mobilization of the German Federal Constitutional Court
Erhard Blankenburg

PART II: DECISION MAKING

Chapter 5. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Strategic Decision Making Process
Timothy Johnson and Maron Sorenson

Chapter 6. Decision making at the German Federal Constitutional Court
Uwe Kranenpohl

Chapter 7. Junior Varsity Judges? Law Clerks in the Decisional Process of the U.S. Supreme Court
Artemus Ward

Chapter 8. The Legal Assistants at the German Federal Constitutional Court: A “Black Box” of Research?
Otwin Massing

PART III: IMPLEMENTATION

Chapter 9. The Implementation of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
Lawrence Baum

Chapter 10. Implementation of German Federal Constitutional Court Decisions - Judicial Orders and the Federal Legislature
Thomas Gawron and Ralf Rogowski

PART IV: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES

Chapter 11. The U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court - Selection, Nomination and Election of Justices
Klaus Stüwe

Chapter 12. The Impact of the German Federal Constitutional Court on Consolidation and Quality of Democracy
Sascha Kneip

Chapter 13. Constitutional Courts in Changing Political Systems
Hans J. Lietzmann

List of Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

NEW & REVISED SECOND EDITION

Praise for the first edition:
"...reveals numerous and fruitful points of contact between American and German constitutional law on the one hand, and the emerging case-law under the HRA on the other... provides vital background information concerning the underlying structures and institutions of both systems." · European Public Law

"The essays offer valuable models for assessing the direction of comparative constitutional law... With well-presented illustrative tables, this book is an excellent contribution to the field. Recommended." · Choice

"Taken together, the essays provide a dispute-processing framework as a model for systematic inquiry." · Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Praise for the first edition:
“…reveals numerous and fruitful points of contact between American and German constitutional law on the one hand, and the emerging case-law under the HRA on the other… provides vital background information concerning the underlying structures and institutions of both systems.” · European Public Law

“The essays offer valuable models for assessing the direction of comparative constitutional law… With well-presented illustrative tables, this book is an excellent contribution to the field. Recommended.” · Choice

“Taken together, the essays provide a dispute-processing framework as a model for systematic inquiry.” · Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

From the Publisher