Political Sciences

Political Sciences

Q1 Describe the role the Supreme Court plays in the policymaking process.

In the American legal and political system, the Supreme Court plays a vital role in the policy making process. Compared to the role of the judiciary in the rest of the developed world, the American judges have a more interactive and active role; as they have the power to decide upon the constitutionality of certain cases. In this scenario the Supreme Court has an additional responsibility in the formulation of the policy making aspect, along with its traditional role of observing and enabling the rule of law. The US Constitution provides the primary guidelines for the actions carried out by the Supreme Court, and the role of these courts is to ensure that the ideology presented in the Constitution is adequately followed by the government. In the cases where the Constitution does not provide clear guidelines, the Supreme Court must partake in the activity of formulating certain policies.

As in the case of the Privacy rights, the US Constitution, does not provide a clear guideline, due to which the Supreme Court has to make certain decision based on their interpretation of the Constitution and the law. The Statutory and the legal rules are often stated in their generic and vague forms, and in this case as well the Supreme Courts must analyze how these rules apply on the various specific cases. As in the case of the Americans with Disabilities Act the provisions require all of the employers to reasonably accommodate the employees (Sidlow & Henschen, 2013). It does not provide a clear and specific set of guidelines for the employers, and in the cases regarding such subjects; the Supreme Courts must decide whether in the specific cases the employer provided reasonable facilities to the employees or not. The decisions in the Supreme Court also form a basis of the interpretation of the Constitution. Hence the Supreme Court establishes guidelines for the national policy through its major decisions. If the Supreme Court deems that the law passed by the Congress is non- constitutional, it will become void.

Q2 Compare and contrast Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint.

The primary role of the Supreme Courts is not to indulge in the process of policy making, however in certain cases the courts have to exercise this authority. The judicial review process enables the courts to assess whether certain polices are constitutional in nature. Majority of the policy making measure are undertaken by the Supreme Court, but the role of the Federal courts in this regard is debated on the basis of Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint.

Although the terms of Judicial Reformists and Judicial Activist do not have official legal definition, these terms present the two opposing schools of thoughts on the policymaking role of the courts. The Reformist judges hold the view that the courts should not have the power to change or term void, the actions taken by the Congress. These judges believe that the Congress is constituted of the elected representatives ...