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

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.

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

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).

Review :
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