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Abstract

In recent years, the judicialization of politics worldwide has expanded its scope to encompass what we may term “mega-politics”—matters of outright and utmost political significance that often define and divide whole polities. In this article, I explore the scope and nature of judicialization of this kind. I begin by identifying the characteristics of the judicialization of mega-politics and by surveying the main explanations for its emergence. I then illustrate the various forms and manifestations of the judicialization of mega-politics through recent examples drawn from jurisprudence of courts and tribunals worldwide. Next, I explore recent studies that advance a strategic “judicialization-from-above” account, which emphasizes support from the political sphere as a necessary precondition for judicialization of pure politics. To further illustrate this point, I survey patterns of political reaction to recurrent manifestations of unsolicited judicial intervention in the political sphere in general, and unwelcome judgments concerning contentious political issues in particular.

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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.053006.183906
2008-06-15
2024-03-28
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  • Article Type: Review Article
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