Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T21:44:57.138Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Judicial Power in Domestic and International Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2011

Jeffrey K. Staton  and
Will H. Moore
Jeffrey K. Staton
Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. E-mail: jeffrey.staton@emory.edu
Will H. Moore
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee. E-mail: will.moore@fsu.edu
Get access

Abstract

Although scholars have made considerable progress on a number of important research questions by relaxing assumptions commonly used to divide political science into subfields, rigid boundaries remain in some contexts. In this essay, we suggest that the assumption that international politics is characterized by anarchy whereas domestic politics is characterized by hierarchy continues to divide research on the conditions under which governments are constrained by courts, international or domestic. We contend that we will learn more about the process by which courts constrain governments, and do so more quickly, if we relax the assumption and recognize the substantial similarities between domestic and international research on this topic. We review four recent books that highlight contemporary theories of the extent to which domestic and international law binds states, and discuss whether a rigid boundary between international and domestic scholarship can be sustained on either theoretical or empirical grounds.

Type
Review Essay
Information
International Organization , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , July 2011 , pp. 553 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abbott, Kenneth W., and Snidal, Duncan. 2000. Hard and Soft Law in International Governance. International Organization 54 (3):421–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alter, Karen J. 2001. Establishing the Supremacy of European Law: The Making of an International Rule of Law in Europe. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Alter, Karen J. 2008. Delegating to International Courts: Self-Binding vs. Other-Binding Delegation. Law and Contemporary Problems 71 (1):37–76.Google Scholar
Alter, Karen J. 2009. The European Court's Political Power: Selected Essays. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austen-Smith, David, and Banks, Jeffrey. 1988. Elections, Coalitions, and Legislative Outcomes. American Political Science Review 82 (2):405–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barro, Robert J. 1997. Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Smith, Alastair, Siverson, Randolph M., and Morrow, James D.. 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burbank, Steven B., and Friedman, Barry. 2002. Reconsidering Judicial Independence. In Judicial Independence at the Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Approach, edited by Burbank, Steven B. and Friedman, Barry, 9–44. New York: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burley, Anne-Marie, and Mattli, Walter. 1993. Europe Before the Court: A Political Theory of Legal Integration. International Organization 47 (1):41–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., and Wright, John R.. 1988. Organized Interests and Agenda Setting in the U.S. Supreme Court. American Political Science Review 82 (4):1109–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., and Wright, John R.. 1990. Amici Curiae Before the Supreme Court: Who Participates, When, and How Much? Journal of Politics 52 (3):782–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrubba, Clifford J. 2005. Courts and Compliance in International Regulatory Regimes. Journal of Politics 67 (3):669–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrubba, Clifford J. 2009. A Model of the Endogenous Development of Judicial Institutions in Federal and International Systems. Journal of Politics 71 (1):55–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrubba, Clifford J., Gabel, Matthew, and Hankla, Charles. 2008. Judicial Behavior Under Political Constraints: Evidence from the European Court of Justice. American Political Science Review 102 (4):435–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavallaro, James L., and Brewer, Stephanie Erin. 2008. Reevaluating Regional Human Rights Litigation in the Twenty-First Century: The Case of the Inter-American Court. American Journal of International Law 102 (4):768–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chavez, Rebecca Bill. 2004. The Rule of Law in Nascent Democracies: Judicial Politics in Argentina. Stanford, Conn.: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Cichowski, Rachel A. 2007. The European Court and Civil Society: Litigation, Mobilization, and Governance. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, David H. 2003. Can Strategic Interaction Divert Diversionary Behavior? A Model of U.S. Conflict Propensity. Journal of Politics 65 (4):1013–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, Tom S. 2011. The Limits of Judicial Independence. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and McCubbins, Matthew D.. 2001. The Institutional Determinants of Economic Policy Outcomes. In Presidents, Parliaments, and Policy, edited by Haggard, Stephan and McCubbins, Matthew D., 21–63. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cross, Frank B. 1999. The Relevance of Law in Human Rights Protection. International Review of Law and Economics 19 (1):87–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epp, Charles R. 1998. The Rights Revolution: Lawyers, Activists, and Supreme Courts in Comparative Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1995. Rationalist Explanations for War. International Organization 49 (3):379–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1998. Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and Theories of International Relations. Annual Review of Political Science 1 (1):289–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferejohn, John, and Shipan, Charles. 1990. Congressional Influence on Bureaucracy. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 6 (Special issue):1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkel, Jodi S. 2008. Judicial Reform as Political Insurance: Argentina, Peru, and Mexico in the 1990s. South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Garrett, Geoffrey, and Weingast, Barry R.. 1993. Ideas, Interests, and Institutions: Constructing the European Community's Internal Market. In Ideas and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change, edited by Goldstein, Judith and Keohane, Robert O., 173–207. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Gibson, James L., Caldeira, Gregory A., and Baird, Vanessa A.. 1998. On the Legitimacy of National High Courts. American Political Science Review 92 (2):343–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom. 2003. Judicial Review in New Democracies: Constitutional Courts in Asian Cases. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groseclose, Tim, and McCarty, Nolan. 2001. The Politics of Blame: Bargaining Before an Audience. American Journal of Political Science 45 (1):100–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guzman, Andrew T. 2008. How International Law Works: A Rational Choice Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, Alexander, Madison, James, and Jay, John. 2009 [1788]. The Federalist Papers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanrieder, Wolfram F. 1968. International and Comparative Politics: Toward a Synthesis. World Politics 20 (3):480–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harlow, Carol, and Rawlings, Richard. 1992. Pressure Through Law. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2005. Between Power and Principle: An Integrated Theory of International Law. University of Chicago Law Review 72 (2):469–536.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Darren, and Jacoby, Wade. 2010. Partial Compliance: A Comparison of the European and Inter-American American Courts for Human Rights. Journal of International Law and International Relations 6 (1):35–85.Google Scholar
Helfer, Lawrence R., and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 1997. Toward a Theory of Effective Supranational Adjudication. Yale Law Journal 107 (2):273–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helfer, Lawrence R., and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 2005. Why States Create International Tribunals: A Response to Professors Posner and Yoo. California Law Review 93 (3):899–956.Google Scholar
Helmke, Gretchen. 2005. Courts Under Constraints: Judges, Generals, and Presidents in Argentina. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Herron, Erik S., and Randazzo, Kirk A.. 2003. The Relationship Between Independence and Judicial Review in Post-Communist Courts. Journal of Politics 65 (2):422–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, Linda Camp. 2002. Constitutional Provisions for Individual Human Rights (1977–1996): Are They More Than Mere “Window Dressing?” Political Research Quarterly 55 (1):111–43.Google Scholar
Keith, Linda Camp, Tate, C. Neal, and Poe, Steve C.. 2009. Is the Law a Mere Parchment Barrier to Human Rights Abuse? Journal of Politics 71 (2):644–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kornhauser, Lewis A. 2002. Is Judicial Independence a Useful Concept? In Judicial Independence at the Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Approach, edited by Burbank, Steven B. and Friedman, Barry, 45–55. New York: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, David. 2003a. The New Sovereignty in International Relations. International Studies Review 5 (3):303–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, David. 2003b. International Relations Theory and Internal Conflict: Insights from the Interstices. International Studies Review 5 (4):81–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, David. 2010. Rightful Rules: Authority, Order, and the Foundations of Global Governance. International Studies Quarterly 54 (3):587–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landes, William M., and Posner, Richard A.. 1975. The Independent Judiciary in an Interest-Group Perspective. Journal of Law and Economics 18 (3):875–901.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, John. 1965 [1698]. Second Treatise of Government. In John Locke, Two Treatises of Government. A Critical Edition with an Introduction and Apparatus Criticus, edited by Laslett, Peter, 45–66. New York: New American Library.Google Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., and Pevehouse, Jon C.. 2006. Democratization and International Organizations. International Organization 60 (1):137–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Andrew D. 2006. Statutory Battles and Constitutional Wars: Congress and the Supreme Court. In Institutional Games and the U.S. Supreme Court, edited by Rogers, James R., Flemming, Roy B., and Bond, Jon R., 3–23. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Maveety, Nancy, and Grosskopf, Anke. 2004. “Constrained” Constitutional Courts as Conduits for Democratic Consolidation. Law and Society Review 38 (3):463–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1991. The Assumption of Anarchy in International Relations: A Critique. Review of International Studies 17 (1):67–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1998. Rationalizing Politics: The Emerging Synthesis of International, American, and Comparative Politics. International Organization 52 (4):759–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, Sara McLaughlin, and Powell, Emilia J.. 2009. Domestic Law Goes Global: How Domestic Legal Traditions Influence International Courts. Unpublished manuscript, University of Iowa, Iowa City, and University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat. 1873 [1752]. The Spirit of Laws. Translated by Nugent, Thomas. Cincinnati, Ohio: Clarke. Available from ⟨http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b629933⟩. Accessed 21 March 2011.Google Scholar
Moraski, Bryon J., and Shipan, Charles R.. 1999. The Politics of Supreme Court Nominations: A Theory of Institutional Constraints and Choices. American Journal of Political Science 43 (4):1069–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew. 2000. The Origins of Human Rights Regimes: Democratic Delegation in Postwar Europe. International Organization 54 (2):217–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir. 2007. The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, Bumba. 2006. Why Political Power-Sharing Agreements Lead to Enduring Peaceful Resolution of Some Civil Wars, but Not Others? International Studies Quarterly 50 (2):479–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Navia, Patricio, and Rìos-Figueroa, Julio. 2005. The Constitutional Adjudication Mosaic of Latin America. Comparative Political Studies 38 (2):189–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, Douglass, Summerhill, William, and Weingast, Barry. 2000. Order, Disorder, and Economic Change: Latin America Versus North America. In Governing for Prosperity, edited by de Mesquita, Bruce Bueno and Root, Hilton L., 17–58. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
North, Douglass, and Weingast, Barry. 1989. Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England. Journal of Economic History 49 (4):803–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Posner, Eric A., and Yoo, John C.. 2005. Judicial Independence in International Tribunals. California Law Review 93 (1):1–74.Google Scholar
Powell, Emilia J., and Staton, Jeffrey K.. 2009. Domestic Judicial Institutions and Human Rights Treaty Violation. International Studies Quarterly 53 (1):149–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raustiala, Kal, and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 2002. International Law, International Relations, and Compliance. In Handbook of International Relations, edited by Risse, Thomas, Carlsnaes, Walter, and Simmons, Beth A., 538–58. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raz, Joseph. 1977. The Rule of Law and Its Virtue. Law Quarterly Review 93 (2):195–211.Google Scholar
Reinhardt, Eric. 2003. Tying Hands Without a Rope: Rational Domestic Response to International Institutional Constraints. In Locating the Proper Authorities: The Interaction of Domestic and International Institutions, edited by Drezner, Daniel W., 77–104. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Rìos-Figueroa, Julio. 2007. Fragmentation of Power and the Emergence of an Effective Judiciary in Mexico, 1994–2002. Latin American Politics & Society 49 (1):31–57.Google Scholar
Rogers, James R. 2001. Information and Judicial Review: A Signaling Game of Legislative-Judicial Interaction. American Journal of Political Science 45 (1):84–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogowski, Ronald. 1999. Institutions as Constraints on Strategic Choice. In Strategic Choice and International Relations, edited by Lake, David A. and Powell, Robert, 115–36. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Romano, Cesare P.R. 1999. The Proliferation of International Judicial Bodies: The Pieces of the Puzzle. New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 31 (4):709–51.Google Scholar
Romano, Cesare P.R. 2004. Synoptic Chart. Project on International Courts and Tribunals. Available at ⟨http://www.pict-pcti.org/publications/synoptic_chart.html⟩. Accessed 21 March 2011.Google Scholar
Scharpf, Fritz W. 1998. Balancing Positive and Negative Integration: The Regulatory Options for Europe. In The Challenge of Globalization for Germany's Social Democracy: A Policy Agenda for the 21st Century, edited by Dettke, Dieter, 29–57. New York: Berghahn Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, Martin M. 1981. Courts: A Comparative and Political Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2000. International Law and State Behavior: Commitment and Compliance in International Monetary Affairs. American Political Science Review 94 (4):819–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Alastair. 1996. Diversionary Foreign Policy in Democratic Systems. International Studies Quarterly 40 (1):133–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smithey, Shannon I., and Ishiyama, John. 2002. Judicial Activism in Post-Communist Politics. Law & Society Review 36 (4):719–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiller, Pablo, and Gely, Rafael. 1992. Congressional Control or Judicial Independence: The Determinants of U.S. Supreme Court Labor-Relations Decisions, 1949–1988. The RAND Journal of Economics 23 (4):463–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stasavage, David. 2002. Private Investment and Political Institutions. Economics and Politics 14 (1):41–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staton, Jeffrey K. 2010. Judicial Power and Strategic Communication in Mexico. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, Richard H. 2004. Judicial Lawmaking at the WTO: Discursive, Constitutional, and Political Constraints. American Journal of International Law 98 (2):247–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, Matthew C. 2004. Court of Public Opinion: Government Accountability and Judicial Independence. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 20 (2):379–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone Sweet, Alec. 1994. What Is a Supranational Constitution? An Essay in International Relations Theory. Review of Politics 56 (3):441–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone Sweet, Alec. 2000. Governing with Judges: Constitutional Politics in Europe. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone Sweet, Alec. 2009. Constitutionalism, Legal Pluralism, and International Regimes. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 16 (2):621–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suganami, Hidemi. 1989. The Domestic Analogy and World Order Proposals. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarar, Ahmer. 2006. Diversionary Incentives and the Bargaining Approach to War. International Studies Quarterly 50 (1):169–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terris, Daniel, Romano, Cesare P. R., and Swigart, Leigh. 2007. The International Judge: An Introduction to the Men and Women who Decide the World's Cases. Lebanon, N.H.: Brandeis University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanberg, Georg. 2005. The Politics of Constitutional Review in Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2008. The Impartiality of International Judges: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights. American Political Science Review 102 (4):417–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2007. The Politics of International Judicial Appointments: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights. International Organization 61 (4):669–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vose, Clement E. 1957. The National Consumers' League and the Brandeis Brief. Midwest Journal of Political Science 1 (3-4):267–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vose, Clement E. 1958. Litigation as a Form of Pressure Group Activity. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 319 (1):20–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, R. Harrison. 2007. War and the State: The Theory of International Politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry. 1995. The Economic Role of Political Institutions. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 11 (1):1–31.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry. 1997. The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of Law. American Political Science Review 91 (2):245–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar