Assaf Meydani
Biographic Data
| ID | 3084877 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Assaf Meydani |
| GIVEN NAMES | Assaf |
| FAMILY NAME | Meydani |
| SIGNATURE | MEYDANI A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 26 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The agenda premises of the judicialization of politics: Policy attention in Israel’s high court of justice
This study examines the supposed “activism” of Israel’s High Court of Justice amid recent political crises and legislative efforts to curb its powers. While judicial behavior often balances political activism and constitutional problem-solving, this paper analyzes the Court’s agenda structure to assess its approach. The research hypothesizes that an activist court would maintain an agenda focused on a few core topics over time. In contrast, a cou…
Courts and Horizontal Accountability in Hybrid Regimes: Judicial Review and the Quality of Democracy
Hybrid regimes exhibit varying degrees of commitment to democracy. Within these regimes, courts play a crucial role in upholding democratic principles by keeping the government accountable to democratic norms. However, the extent to which courts in hybrid regimes consistently adhere to the rule of law remains a critical question. We offer a methodological strategy to examine which judicial behavior model best coincides with judicial behavior in h…
Applied Democracy in Light of the Five “Iso”s of Democracy
Athenian democracy, with its five criteria, expresses an understanding and internalization of its components and thus becomes virtue. Modern democracies should strive to maintain a long process based on education for substantive democracy, and those that only emphasize the formal aspect, express a partial application of democracy. In such a situation, damage to democracy occurs. We argue that democracy can be treated as a collection of practices …
The Effect of Bilateral Agreements on Migrant Workers in the Construction Industry in Israel
This research examines the consequences of bilateral agreements that Israel has signed with different countries. It also examines agreements signed by Israel with foreign construction companies, bypassing employment arrangements established by the Israeli government. The results indicate that the bilateral agreements have succeeded in significantly reducing the brokerage fees. However, it is not possible to determine the degree to which these agr…
Judicial Review in a Defective Democracy: Judicial Nominations and Judicial Review in Constitutional Courts
Governments reform the process of nominating judges to constitutional courts, seeking to reduce the courts’ involvement in state affairs. Since 2008, reformers have tried to appoint judges who would be more judicially restrained. We examine the rulings of judges on Israel’s Supreme Court in its capacity as Israel’s High Court of Justice on the Israeli executive’s decisions. We show that reformers did achieve their goal of reducing High Court of J…
Innovation in Israel: Between Politics, Society, and Culture
The past decade has witnessed a growing number of theoretical and empirical studies analyzing the components of innovation; the ways in which it filters into political, social, and cultural systems; how it accelerates; what drives its existence; and its advantages and disadvantages (Seeck and Diehl 2017). This special issue, a joint initiative of the Israel Political Science Association (ISPSA) and Israel Studies Review , seeks to examine innovat…
Innovative Thinking on the Relationship between the Provision of Local Services and Inequality in Israel
What innovative policy tools can be introduced so that the provision of local services will mitigate inequality among residents of different localities? Based on the ‘new localism’ approach, this article examines one such tool—a mandatory national standard for services provided by local authorities (a ‘service basket’)—and suggests that the implementation process should consider local variation and autonomy. The novelty of our approach lies in in…
A new integrated model of the formation of coalitions: Perspectives on the Twentieth Knesset
This article integrates various aspects of the office-seeking approach, the policy-seeking approach and the institutional rule approach to theories about establishing coalitions to create a new model that takes into account the mutual influence between the formation and stability of the coalition, party policies and the difference between the status of the party that formed the coalition and that of its coalition partners. It also introduces a ne…
The role of bureaucrats in designing policy outcomes: The case of the 2002 General Security Service (GSS) Law
Since the 1980s, and mainly since the 1990s, studies in politics and law have adopted an economic attitude to explaining judicial behaviour. In contrast, this paper follows the individualistic approach by focusing on the role of individuals in bureaucracies in designing policy outcomes, using political entrepreneurship and new institutionalism as its theoretical framework. In describing a specific institutional change in Israel – the passage of t…
The Anatomy of Human Rights in Israel: Constitutional Rhetoric and State Practice
Why is there such a large gap between the declarations that countries make about human rights and their imperfect implementation of them? Why do states that have enacted laws and signed treaties about human rights choose to not enforce these laws in daily life? Why have activists failed to achieve the goals of ensuring human rights domestically and internationally? This book examines the issue of human rights in the Israeli domestic arena by anal…
The political economy of human rights: The struggle over the establishment of a human rights commission in Israel
This article analyses the attempts to establish a human rights commission in Israel by using public choice theory and socio-cultural variables as explanations. It develops a theoretical framework that views the decision-making process (1999–2004) as dictated by several conditions: non-governability, the judicialization of politics and the special characteristics of civil society in Israel. It emphasizes the existence of an outcome-directed, parti…
Poetry and poets in the public sphere
Political poetry is not tested by its impact and the number of its readers but in its very participation in the public discourse on the issues of the day. Poetry moves between forces that focus the attention of its audience inwards, to the lyrics of the poems, and the forces that connect to the social, cultural, and political climate in which the poems are published. These movements reflect the power of poetry, which, using language, breaks the b…
The Supreme Court as a Political Entrepreneur: The Case of Israela
In recent decades, the role that national supreme courts have played in shaping and determining institutional change has been studied from a number of angles. However, this vast literature has not produced a dynamic model that is capable of illuminating the impact of supreme courts on national policy or institutional change. This article proposes such a dynamic model using perspectives based on the 'shared mental model' and the concept of 'politi…
The Israeli Supreme Court and the Human Rights Revolution: Courts as Agenda Setters
This book explains the reciprocal relations between the Supreme Court and the Israeli political system. It is based on a unique approach that contends that the non-governability of the political system and an alternative political culture are two key formal and informal variables affecting the behavior of several political players within the Israeli arena. The analysis illustrates the usefulness of such a model for analyzing long-term socio-polit…
The design of land policy in Israel: Between law and political culture
The Relationship Between the Supreme Court and Parliament in Light of the Theory of Moves: The Case of Israel
The relationship between the Supreme Court and the legislature has been studied from various angles. This paper develops a dynamic model using the Theory of Moves. The model is then applied to a path-dependence analysis of the relations between the Supreme Court and the parliament in Israel between 1970 and 2007. While at the beginning of this period the Supreme Court limited the ability of citizens to appeal in matters concerning decisions of th…
Political Transformations and Political Entrepreneurs: Israel in Comparative Perspective
This book presents a theoretical framework based on the empirical context of the Israeli political system to evaluate under what conditions and in what ways can fundamental institutional changes occur
The Interrogation Policy of the Israeli General Security Service: Between Law and Politics
The last decade was characterized to a large extent by terrorist activities, especially in democratic countries. This phenomenon placed various state security organizations, such as Israel's Genera
Political entrepreneurs and electoral capital: The case of the Israeli State Economy Arrangement Law
Judicial Behaviour: A Socio-Cultural Strategic Approach—Conceptual Framework and Analysis of Case Studies in IsraelAssaf Meydani teaches at the Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel
Public Policy on Human Rights in Israel: The Perspective from a Local Military Court
This article will attempt to elaborate on human rights policies in Israel by analyzing the judicial activism in the military courts in Israel. Judicial activism as it has been claimed here is actually an equilibrium that results from the action of a number of players who operate against the backdrop of certain structural and cultural conditions, both local and international. These players include politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and the…
Establishing a Constitutional Court? An alternative political culture approach – the Israeli case
In the beginning of January 2002, the Israeli parliament (The Knesset) rejected a proposal that had been filed two years earlier advocating the establishment of a constitutional court of law. This article explains the legislative process in Israel and places it within the framework of the political-public dialogue about establishing a special constitutional court of law, outside the legal system, which would function solely as a critic of constit…
Security and Human Rights Policy: Israel and the Interrogation Case of 1999
When are interrogators exempt from criminal responsibility by the imperative to acquire information that might save lives endangered by terrorist attack? This article uses the Israeli example to show that aspects of security policy previously assumed to be based on independent foundations actually results from political bargaining. Interrogation of terrorist suspects is governed instead by bargaining between political leaders, civil servants and …
Political Participation through the Judicial System: Exit, Voice and Quasi-Exit in Israeli Society
Political Participation through the Judicial System: Exit, Voice and Quasi-Exit in Israeli Society
Political entrepreneurs and electoral capital: The case of the Israeli State Economy Arrangement Law
Establishing a Constitutional Court? An alternative political culture approach – the Israeli case
In the beginning of January 2002, the Israeli parliament (The Knesset) rejected a proposal that had been filed two years earlier advocating the establishment of a constitutional court of law. This article explains the legislative process in Israel and places it within the framework of the political-public dialogue about establishing a special constitutional court of law, outside the legal system, which would function solely as a critic of constit…
A new integrated model of the formation of coalitions: Perspectives on the Twentieth Knesset
This article integrates various aspects of the office-seeking approach, the policy-seeking approach and the institutional rule approach to theories about establishing coalitions to create a new model that takes into account the mutual influence between the formation and stability of the coalition, party policies and the difference between the status of the party that formed the coalition and that of its coalition partners. It also introduces a ne…
Poetry and poets in the public sphere
Political poetry is not tested by its impact and the number of its readers but in its very participation in the public discourse on the issues of the day. Poetry moves between forces that focus the attention of its audience inwards, to the lyrics of the poems, and the forces that connect to the social, cultural, and political climate in which the poems are published. These movements reflect the power of poetry, which, using language, breaks the b…
Political Participation through the Judicial System: Exit, Voice and Quasi-Exit in Israeli Society
Public Policy on Human Rights in Israel: The Perspective from a Local Military Court
This article will attempt to elaborate on human rights policies in Israel by analyzing the judicial activism in the military courts in Israel. Judicial activism as it has been claimed here is actually an equilibrium that results from the action of a number of players who operate against the backdrop of certain structural and cultural conditions, both local and international. These players include politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and the…
Establishing a Constitutional Court? An alternative political culture approach – the Israeli case
In the beginning of January 2002, the Israeli parliament (The Knesset) rejected a proposal that had been filed two years earlier advocating the establishment of a constitutional court of law. This article explains the legislative process in Israel and places it within the framework of the political-public dialogue about establishing a special constitutional court of law, outside the legal system, which would function solely as a critic of constit…
Security and Human Rights Policy: Israel and the Interrogation Case of 1999
When are interrogators exempt from criminal responsibility by the imperative to acquire information that might save lives endangered by terrorist attack? This article uses the Israeli example to show that aspects of security policy previously assumed to be based on independent foundations actually results from political bargaining. Interrogation of terrorist suspects is governed instead by bargaining between political leaders, civil servants and …
The Interrogation Policy of the Israeli General Security Service: Between Law and Politics
The last decade was characterized to a large extent by terrorist activities, especially in democratic countries. This phenomenon placed various state security organizations, such as Israel's Genera
Political entrepreneurs and electoral capital: The case of the Israeli State Economy Arrangement Law
Judicial Behaviour: A Socio-Cultural Strategic Approach—Conceptual Framework and Analysis of Case Studies in IsraelAssaf Meydani teaches at the Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel
Political Transformations and Political Entrepreneurs: Israel in Comparative Perspective
This book presents a theoretical framework based on the empirical context of the Israeli political system to evaluate under what conditions and in what ways can fundamental institutional changes occur
The design of land policy in Israel: Between law and political culture
The Relationship Between the Supreme Court and Parliament in Light of the Theory of Moves: The Case of Israel
The relationship between the Supreme Court and the legislature has been studied from various angles. This paper develops a dynamic model using the Theory of Moves. The model is then applied to a path-dependence analysis of the relations between the Supreme Court and the parliament in Israel between 1970 and 2007. While at the beginning of this period the Supreme Court limited the ability of citizens to appeal in matters concerning decisions of th…
The Israeli Supreme Court and the Human Rights Revolution: Courts as Agenda Setters
This book explains the reciprocal relations between the Supreme Court and the Israeli political system. It is based on a unique approach that contends that the non-governability of the political system and an alternative political culture are two key formal and informal variables affecting the behavior of several political players within the Israeli arena. The analysis illustrates the usefulness of such a model for analyzing long-term socio-polit…
The Supreme Court as a Political Entrepreneur: The Case of Israela
In recent decades, the role that national supreme courts have played in shaping and determining institutional change has been studied from a number of angles. However, this vast literature has not produced a dynamic model that is capable of illuminating the impact of supreme courts on national policy or institutional change. This article proposes such a dynamic model using perspectives based on the 'shared mental model' and the concept of 'politi…
The Anatomy of Human Rights in Israel: Constitutional Rhetoric and State Practice
Why is there such a large gap between the declarations that countries make about human rights and their imperfect implementation of them? Why do states that have enacted laws and signed treaties about human rights choose to not enforce these laws in daily life? Why have activists failed to achieve the goals of ensuring human rights domestically and internationally? This book examines the issue of human rights in the Israeli domestic arena by anal…
The political economy of human rights: The struggle over the establishment of a human rights commission in Israel
This article analyses the attempts to establish a human rights commission in Israel by using public choice theory and socio-cultural variables as explanations. It develops a theoretical framework that views the decision-making process (1999–2004) as dictated by several conditions: non-governability, the judicialization of politics and the special characteristics of civil society in Israel. It emphasizes the existence of an outcome-directed, parti…
Poetry and poets in the public sphere
Political poetry is not tested by its impact and the number of its readers but in its very participation in the public discourse on the issues of the day. Poetry moves between forces that focus the attention of its audience inwards, to the lyrics of the poems, and the forces that connect to the social, cultural, and political climate in which the poems are published. These movements reflect the power of poetry, which, using language, breaks the b…
The role of bureaucrats in designing policy outcomes: The case of the 2002 General Security Service (GSS) Law
Since the 1980s, and mainly since the 1990s, studies in politics and law have adopted an economic attitude to explaining judicial behaviour. In contrast, this paper follows the individualistic approach by focusing on the role of individuals in bureaucracies in designing policy outcomes, using political entrepreneurship and new institutionalism as its theoretical framework. In describing a specific institutional change in Israel – the passage of t…
A new integrated model of the formation of coalitions: Perspectives on the Twentieth Knesset
This article integrates various aspects of the office-seeking approach, the policy-seeking approach and the institutional rule approach to theories about establishing coalitions to create a new model that takes into account the mutual influence between the formation and stability of the coalition, party policies and the difference between the status of the party that formed the coalition and that of its coalition partners. It also introduces a ne…
Innovation in Israel: Between Politics, Society, and Culture
The past decade has witnessed a growing number of theoretical and empirical studies analyzing the components of innovation; the ways in which it filters into political, social, and cultural systems; how it accelerates; what drives its existence; and its advantages and disadvantages (Seeck and Diehl 2017). This special issue, a joint initiative of the Israel Political Science Association (ISPSA) and Israel Studies Review , seeks to examine innovat…
Innovative Thinking on the Relationship between the Provision of Local Services and Inequality in Israel
What innovative policy tools can be introduced so that the provision of local services will mitigate inequality among residents of different localities? Based on the ‘new localism’ approach, this article examines one such tool—a mandatory national standard for services provided by local authorities (a ‘service basket’)—and suggests that the implementation process should consider local variation and autonomy. The novelty of our approach lies in in…
Judicial Review in a Defective Democracy: Judicial Nominations and Judicial Review in Constitutional Courts
Governments reform the process of nominating judges to constitutional courts, seeking to reduce the courts’ involvement in state affairs. Since 2008, reformers have tried to appoint judges who would be more judicially restrained. We examine the rulings of judges on Israel’s Supreme Court in its capacity as Israel’s High Court of Justice on the Israeli executive’s decisions. We show that reformers did achieve their goal of reducing High Court of J…
Applied Democracy in Light of the Five “Iso”s of Democracy
Athenian democracy, with its five criteria, expresses an understanding and internalization of its components and thus becomes virtue. Modern democracies should strive to maintain a long process based on education for substantive democracy, and those that only emphasize the formal aspect, express a partial application of democracy. In such a situation, damage to democracy occurs. We argue that democracy can be treated as a collection of practices …
The Effect of Bilateral Agreements on Migrant Workers in the Construction Industry in Israel
This research examines the consequences of bilateral agreements that Israel has signed with different countries. It also examines agreements signed by Israel with foreign construction companies, bypassing employment arrangements established by the Israeli government. The results indicate that the bilateral agreements have succeeded in significantly reducing the brokerage fees. However, it is not possible to determine the degree to which these agr…
The agenda premises of the judicialization of politics: Policy attention in Israel’s high court of justice
This study examines the supposed “activism” of Israel’s High Court of Justice amid recent political crises and legislative efforts to curb its powers. While judicial behavior often balances political activism and constitutional problem-solving, this paper analyzes the Court’s agenda structure to assess its approach. The research hypothesizes that an activist court would maintain an agenda focused on a few core topics over time. In contrast, a cou…
Courts and Horizontal Accountability in Hybrid Regimes: Judicial Review and the Quality of Democracy
Hybrid regimes exhibit varying degrees of commitment to democracy. Within these regimes, courts play a crucial role in upholding democratic principles by keeping the government accountable to democratic norms. However, the extent to which courts in hybrid regimes consistently adhere to the rule of law remains a critical question. We offer a methodological strategy to examine which judicial behavior model best coincides with judicial behavior in h…
Political science (23 works) · Law (22 works) · Politics (20 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Law (14 works) · Law and economics (12 works) · Public Administration (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Judicial and Constitutional Studies (8 works) · Public Administration (8 works)