The Triumph of Politics

In this article, Gerald N Rosenberg revisits his 2014 argument that the US Supreme Court is a political institution. Its decisions in affirmative action cases in education are best understood through the political preferences of the justices. Eight years later, the author finds that the Court's opinions have only strengthened this argument. The article analyses affirmative action cases in education between 2014 and mid-2022 and illustrates the power of politics in explaining some of the most important and controversial decisions of the Roberts Court. These include decisions on voting rights (Shelby County v Holder), gun rights (District of Columbia v Heller) and abortion rights (Roe v Wade). The article re-emphasises the need to read these decisions through the political and cultural system within which the Court operates, rather than relying solely on law and precedent

Affirmative action · Gun control · Institution · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Supreme court · Supreme Court Decisions · Voting · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law, Rights, and Freedoms