
Courts in Latin America
Cambridge University Press, 1/17/2011
EAN 9781107001091, ISBN10: 1107001099
Hardcover, 352 pages, 23.4 x 16 x 2.6 cm
Language: English
To what extent do courts in Latin America protect individual rights and limit governments? This volume answers these fundamental questions by bringing together today's leading scholars of judicial politics. Drawing on examples from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Bolivia, the authors demonstrate that there is widespread variation in the performance of Latin America's constitutional courts. In accounting for this variation, the contributors push forward ongoing debates about what motivates judges; whether institutions, partisan politics and public support shape inter-branch relations; and the importance of judicial attitudes and legal culture. The authors deploy a range of methods, including qualitative case studies, paired country comparisons, statistical analysis and game theory.
Introduction
courts in Latin America Gretchen Helmke and Julio RÃÂos-Figueroa
1. Institutions for constitutional justice in Latin America Julio RÃÂos-Figueroa
2. Enforcing rights and exercising an accountability function
Costa Rica's Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court Bruce M. Wilson
3. Strategic deference in the Colombian Constitutional Court, 1992–2006 Juan Carlos RodrÃÂguez-Raga
4. From quietism to incipient activism
the institutional and ideological roots of rights adjudication in Chile Lisa Hilbink and Javier Couso
5. 'Faithful servants of the regime' - the Brazilian Constitutional Court's role under the 1988 Constitution Daniel M. Brinks
6. Power broker, policymaker, or rights protector? The Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal in transition Diana Kapiszewski
7. Legalist vs. interpretivist
the Supreme Court and the Democratic transition in Mexico Arianna Sánchez, Beatriz Magloni and Eric Magar
8. A theory of the politically independent judiciary
a comparative study of the United States and Argentina Rebecca Bill Chávez, John A. Ferejohn and Barry R. Weingast
9. Courts, power and rights in Argentina and Chile Druscilla Scribner
10. Bolivia
the rise (and fall) of judicial review Andrea Castagnola and AnÃÂbal Pérez-Liñán
11. The puzzle of judicial politics in Latin America
a theory of litigation, judicial decisions and inter-branch crises Gretchen Helmke and Jeffrey K. Staton.