Overview
Balanced and enlightening, Lawrence Baum's The Supreme Court, Eleventh Edition, examines all major aspects of the Court, including the selection, backgrounds, and tenures of justices; the creation of the Court's agenda; the decision-making process and the factors that shape the Court's decisions; the substance of the Court's policies; and the Court's impact on government and U.S. society. This new edition pays particular attention to the leadership of Chief Justice Roberts, the key position of Justice Kennedy as "swing" justice, and the Court's role in shaping national policy on such issues as campaign finance and health care. In addition, it examines the impact of the Court on the growing polarization that has reshaped politics in the United States.
Delving deeply into the Court?s personalities and procedures, Baum explains the actions of the Court and the behavior of its justices, as he reveals the Court's complexity, reach, and influence.
Lawrence Baum is professor emeritus of political science at Ohio State University and holds a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. A widely recognized authority on the court system, Baum is the author of Specializing the Courts (2011), Judges and Their Audiences: A Perspective on Judicial Behavior (2006), American Courts: Process and Policy, 7th Edition (2012), and The Pazzle of Judicial Behavior (1997), as well as numerous articles on topics such as the implementation of court decisions, change in Supreme Court policies, and interaction between the Supreme Court and Congress. He has received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching and the University Distinguished Scholar Award.
Examines the nation's highest court as a political force in American government and provides an overview of the Court and its influence in our lives.
Synopsis
In The Supreme Court, Lawrence Baum provides a brief yet comprehensive introduction to the U.S. Supreme Court, one that is balanced and illuminating. In successive chapters, the book examines each major aspect of the Court: the selection, backgrounds, and departures of justices; the creation of the Court's agenda; the decision-making process and the factors that shape the Court's decisions; the substance of the Court's policies; and the Court's impact on government and American society.With the new eleventh edition, the book gives particular attention to current developments in the Court, including the leadership of Chief Justice Roberts, the key position of Justice Kennedy as "swing" justice, and the Court's role in shaping national policy on such issues as campaign finance and health care. In addition, it examines the impact on the Court of the growing polarization that has reshaped politics in the United States.