On Judicial Review in a Separation of Powers System

The institution of judicial review is an important mechanism of holding the government legally accountable, nevertheless questions remain about its proper role in a separation of powers system. This article analyzes the effect of judicial review on the policy-making process from an expertise perspec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political science research and methods 2015-09, Vol.3 (3), p.473-492
Main Authors: Dragu, Tiberiu, Board, Oliver
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Administrative law
Bureaucracy
Bureaucrats
Checks and Balances
Constitutional review
Courts
Economic models
Experts
Incentives
Judges & magistrates
Judicial Review
Judicial reviews
Legitimacy
Morality
Norms
Original Articles
Policy Making
Political science
Politics
Separation of Powers
State laws
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Summary:The institution of judicial review is an important mechanism of holding the government legally accountable, nevertheless questions remain about its proper role in a separation of powers system. This article analyzes the effect of judicial review on the policy-making process from an expertise perspective. It shows that the exercise of non-expert judicial review can induce more informed policies and that non-expert courts have incentives to exercise judicial review in a manner consistent with institutional concerns for expertise. In addition to its importance as a mechanism of legal accountability, our analysis underscores another virtue of judicial review: legal review of governmental policy by non-expert courts can improve the amount of information available for policy making. The article contributes to a literature on the scope and legitimacy of judicial review and has broader implications for understanding the effect of institutional checks and balances on the quality of policy making.
ISSN:2049-8470
2049-8489
DOI:10.1017/psrm.2014.44