To show the ways in which the Supreme Court is a political institution references will be made to a number of decisions that the Court has handed down that have had an effect on American politics. As far back as the 1803 Marbury v Madison case, where the power of judicial review was established, the Court has affected policy-making and politics. Judicial review is where the Court has the capacity to declare unconstitutional any law passed in the United States, whether at the federal, state or local level. (Mckay, Houghton and Wroe: 2002; 67) When the Court exercises the use of judicial review it not only asses whether or not laws are in agreement with the constitution but also acts as the ultimate judge between the state and the federal government and between the legislative and executive branches. The Marbury v Madison case of 1803 circled around whether the courts should be bound by the constitution or if an act passed that was repugnant to the constitution should stand as the law of the land. (Murphy and Pritchett: 1974: 37) The Court ruled that if indeed a law was contrary to the constitution then it should become void, as the constitution is seen as the fundamental and core law of the nation. Thus judicial review came into practice and the Supreme Court began to affect American politics, in that it could void any law, seen to be unconstitutional, and thus affect the laws under which people must live.
In the last 60 year the court has made numerous decisions that have had a powerful impact on American politics due to the issues they dealt with, racism, abortion, affirmative action, federalism and the presidential elections. Starting with the Brown v Board of Education case in 1954 the Court has been involved in ‘culture wars’ which have led to controversial rulings and decisions that have shaped the direction of both policy-making and politics in the United States. In the Brown v board of Education case the Court ruled that racially separated facilities in education and other facilities were in inherently unequal. This ruling although made in 1954 did not have any real affect over American politics until 1964 when congress passed the first major civil rights act. Although the actual movement in American politics was made by congress there is no doubt that the Supreme Court ruling in 1954 forced the issue and got the movement underway.
The Roe v Wade case in 1973 is by far one of the most controversial issues the Court has had to make a decision on. Originally however this case received no special attention it was just one of the many thousands that had been granted oral argument, however the court did not realise that, as O’Brien put it, “In the end the court’s decision would affect the laws in virtually every state.” (O’Brien: 1993: 25) The decision handed down by the Court made it legal for women to have abortions within the first trimester, thereby allowing a woman to control her own body. Before this ruling the law in many states stated unless a pregnancy was detrimental to the mothers health abortions were illegal. However, Justice Douglas noted that the law stipulating abortions for health risks does not mention whether it means physical or mental health or the stigma attached to having an unwanted baby, thus he felt that the law should be void for vagueness. By its decision the court raised the issue of abortion to the national political agenda, and once again caused massive changes within American politics. The country still remains strongly divided over the issue, but the original mandate failed to last, as the Rehnquist Court returned more authority to the states and localities to regulate and limit the availability of abortions. Thus although reversed at a later date the Roe v. Wade affected politics in that it changed many of the state laws relating to abortion.
The Supreme Courts decisions on affirmative action, namely the muddled decision of Regents of the University v. Bakke in 1978, played a major role in the direction of American politics as it forced institutions to reserve a certain number of places or positions for minority races. There is a strong and well-supported argument that formal legal and political equality is insufficient to bring about real socio-economic equality of the races. (Grant: 2000: 133) However, opponents to the idea state that affirmative action is doing nothing more than reversing racism, previously whites received unfair advantages purely based on their races and now minority races are given preference purely on their race rather than their merits. Under the Equal Protection Clause everyone is equal and the government is not allowed to look at race as a description of a nations citizens. In essence the clauses aims to promote ‘colour-blindness’ and end racial segregation. Under the City of Richmond v. Croson (1989) and Adarand v. Pena (1995) cases, it can be seen that the Supreme Court feels that all local and state affirmative action plans must be under strict scrutiny. The reason that racial cases such as these have a political effect is that many plans that deal with racism are passed by politicians but can be forced to alter, or even voided by the Supreme Court.
Although not a part of the ‘cultural wars’, the Supreme Courts decisions on federalism are very important to American politics as the Court has the power to control laws and acts passed by Congress. In the 1979 National League of Cities v. Usery decision saw the Court bar Congress from applying certain federal government employment standards to state and local government employees. However, this decision was reversed in the Garcia v. San Antonio case in 1985 because the Court felt protection was needed from federal encroachment, thus states should rely less on the Supreme Court and more on their positions of power within the federal government. (Grant: 2000: 143) These decisions coupled with the US v. Lopez (1995), struck down the federal Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990, and the Printz v. US (1997), the court invalidate portions of the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act of 1993, ensured that the Supreme Courts decisions would play a powerful role in American politics. Even though these decisions seem more closely related to social aspects rather than political ones, in actuality the fact that the Supreme Court claimed that without the proper revisions these Acts were unconstitutional and thus the federal government could not commander local officials to enforce federal laws. Perhaps one of the most significant decisions on federalism was made in 1999 with the Alden v. Maine case. The Courts decision on this matter meant that from the perspective of the federal balance of power, Congress cannot infringe upon the stats’ ‘sovereign immunity’ by making them vulnerable to lawsuits by individuals. (Grant: 2000: 144) in effect this decision meant shows an even deeper state autonomy from the federal government. As is plain to observe the affect on American politics is that the courts decisions have made clear the federal government is separate from the autonomy of the state and therefore Congress must review pubic policy so that the Autonomy of the state is maintained.
Arguably the biggest affect the Supreme Court has ever played in American politics was when it was brought in to determine the outcome of the presidential election of 2000 between Bush and Gore. A controversy over the counting of votes in Florida meant that the Supreme Court was requested to resolve the problem. Although had traditionally been expected to remain separate from partisan politics and had never played a direct role in the outcome of a presidential election, due to bush’s appeal to the US Supreme Court to reverse the Florida supreme court ruling, in the case of Gore v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, it became inevitable for the Court to remain separate from politics. The US Supreme Court did in fact reverse the Florida supreme court ruling, stating “in Bush v. Gore that the lower courts decision procedures for deciding voter intent permitted “arbitrary and disparate treatment” of voters contrary to the Constitution’s equal protection and due process guarantees.” (Bailey, Cain, Peele and Peters: 2002: 119) Therefore due to the fact that the lower courts decision was unconstitutional and therefore void, the US Supreme Court ensured that Florida’s Electoral College votes, and the presidency, would be given to governor Bush. The Courts decision finalised the dispute and probably spared the nation from a biter disagreement in Congress, but in doing so managed to endanger its own reputation. Although the US Supreme Court is supposed to have no role in politics and therefore should not be classed as a political institution the Bush v. Gore case cemented the fact that the Court does play a major role in American politics and policy-making.
All the examples shown above have illustrated how American politics is affected by the Supreme Court decisions. Moreover, the decisions made also display the ways in which the Supreme Court has become a political institution.
In conclusion, as this essay has shown, despite specific measures to stop political involvement the US Supreme Court does affect American politics. As to whether or not the Supreme Court is a political institution, it seems that this essay has shown that although not what we would typically describe as a political institution, it is. The idea of the Supreme Court as a political institution is clearly illustrated in this quote by Martin Shapiro, “as one government agency amongst many- as part of the American political process, rather than as a unique body of impervious legal technicians above and beyond the political struggle” (Murphy and Pritchett: 1974: 12) As the examples have shown the ways in which the US Supreme Court is a political institution because it has a tremendous effect on social issues and brings about changes to legislation that affect the laws under which people live and the power of their institutions. Moreover at the start of this essay the sense in which the Supreme Court is a political institution was shown. Thus both the sense and ways in which the Supreme Court is a political institution have been illustrated by showing the nature of the Court and how the decisions made affected American politics.
Bibliography
Books
Bailey, J., Cain, B., Peele, G. and Peters, G. (2002) “Developments in American Politics 4”, Palgrave
Grant, A. (2000) “American Politics: 2000 and Beyond”, Ashgate Publishing Limited
Houghton, D., Mckay, D. and Wroe, A. (2002) “Controversies in American Politics and Society”, Blackwell Publishers
Jackson, R. (1955) “The Supreme Court: In the American System of Government”, Harper Torch Books
Krislov, S. (1968) “The Supreme Court and Political Freedom”, The Free Press
McCloskey, R. (1960) “The American Supreme Court”, The University of Chicago Press
McKay, D. (2001) “American Politics and Society” 5th ed., Blackwell Publishers
McKeever, R. (1993) “Raw Judicial Power? The Supreme Court and American Society”, Manchester University Press
Murphy, W. and Pritchett, C. H. (1961) “Courts, Judges, and Politics: An introduction to the Judicial Process” 2nd ed., Random House
O’Brien, D. (1993) “Storm Center: The American Supreme Court in American Politics” 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company
Internet Links
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.php
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
