Judicial power and national politics : courts and gender in the religious-secular conflict in Israel / Patricia J. Woods.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woods, Patricia J., 1967-

Series:

SUNY series in Israeli studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political questions and judicial power--Israel.

Political questions and judicial power.

Judicial review--Israel.

Judicial review.

Israel. Bet ha-mishpaṭ ha-gavoha le-tsedeḳ.

Israel.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 243 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany, N.Y. : Suny Press, [2008]

Summary:

Patricia J. Woods examines a controversial issue in the politics of many countries around the world: the increasing role that courts and justices have played in deeply charged political battles. Through an extensive case study of the religious-secular conflict in Israel, she argues that the most important determining factor explaining when, why, and how national courts enter into the world of divisive politics is found in the intellectual or judicial communities with whom justices live, work, and think about the law on a daily basis. The interaction among members of this community, Woods maintains, is an organic, sociological process of intellectual exchange that over time culminates in new legal norms that may, through court cases, become binding legal principles. Given the right conditions-electoral democracy, basic judicial independence, and some institutional constraints-courts may use these new legal norms as the basis for a jurisprudence that justifies hearing controversial cases and allows for creative answers to major issues of national political contention.

Contents:

Judicial community, judicial power, and national politics

The Israel High Court of Justice and religious authorities

The irony of state incorporation

Social movement lawyers, judicial community, and the countermovement that binds them

Changing visions, conflicting missions: signaling the judicial community

Social movements and changing language of the court: implicit alliances and explicit coalitions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-238) and index.

ISBN:

9780791473993

0791473996

9780791474006

0791474003

OCLC:

167764192