Policy Making in an Independent Judiciary: The Norwegian Supreme Court - Paperback

by Eric N. Waltenburg (Author), William R. Shaffer (Author), Gunnar Grendstad (Author)

How do the justices of a nation's highest court arrive at their decisions? In the context of the US Supreme Court, the answer to this question is well established: justices seek to enshrine policy preferences in their decisions, but they do so in a manner consistent with 'the law' and in recognition that they are members of an institution with defined expectations and constraints. In other words, a justice's behaviour is a function of motives, means, and opportunities. Using Norway as a case study, this book shows that these forces are not peculiar to the decisional behaviour of American justices. Employing a modified attitudinal model, Grendstad, Shaffer and Waltenburg establish that the preferences of Norway's justices are related to their decisions. Consequently, the authors show how an understanding of judicial behaviour developed and most fully tested in the American judicial system is transportable to the courts of other countries.

Author Biography

Eric N Waltenburg is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Purdue University. His research interests concern judicial politics and state politics. He is the author or co-author of four books on judicial politics. Gunnar Grendstad is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Bergen. He has published books and articles on political behaviour, environmental behaviour, American presidents, and Scandinavian politics. William R Shaffer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Purdue University. He has published books and articles on judicial, legislative and electoral behaviour, and on Scandinavian politics.