Author Description

This is a brilliant analysis of Supreme Court decisions during a crucial decade in the Supreme Court's history, by a political scientist "interested in the social and psychological origins of judicial attitudes and the influence of individual predilections on the development of law." A much-cited classic of the Court and judicial decision-making from the point of view of social science and history -- not just doctrine -- this work is at last available in a new reprint edition. It is the book that jump-started the modern study of judicial behavior. "One of the most informative, judicious, and illuminating of all the books on our judicial history." -Henry Steele Commager "His analysis is continuously interesting to the general student of the Court.... Excellent analysis of the subject matter of Court opinions.... No one has done a better job of catching the true meaning of the Supreme Court's role as an instrumentality of government, or of putting that meaning into striking yet comprehensible language.... No better brief summary of the constitutional law of [this] decade can be found anywhere. Finally, the book Is studded with wise insights into the nature of judicial review and the business of the Supreme Court." -American Historical Review "Provocative, well-written, and adventurous." -New York Times "Written in an easy style, free of dogma, and interspersed with a sense of humor, it will solve for many the enigma of seven justices appointed by the same President and presumably endowed with a kindred social outlook attaining unprecedented heights of disagreement." -Christian Science Monitor Part of the Classics of Law & Society Series from Quid Pro Books, this is an authorized and unabridged republication of the original work. Presented in a modern format, it nonetheless retains and embeds the original pagination for continuity of referencing and syllabus and for the convenience of the reader. A new digital edition is also available from Quid Pro.