1 - Introduction

Summary

The increased judicialization of politics over time has rendered the institutional design of courts both contentious and significant. As courts play a larger role in shaping policy, citizens and policymakers increasingly grapple with the powers of courts, selection of their judges, and their role in society in both backsliding and more established democracies. Despite claims that independent courts are important for governance and the separation of powers, politicians, past and present, often seek to control the powers of courts and judicial selection to seemingly control policy outcomes. At times, politicians successfully manipulate these two facets of courts to achieve their own ends. At other times, the composition of political actors and public sentiment as well as the strength of certain courts defies such blatant methods for controlling courts.