Congress and the Court: A Case Study in the American Political Process

Walter F. Murphy

Aug 2014 · Classics of Law & Society Book 24 · Quid Pro Books

About this ebook

Princeton political scientist Walter Murphy analyzed the role of Congress in trying to manage an activist Supreme Court at a time of seismic change in the law and evolving interplay between these powerful institutions. As the original dustjacket offered, this is a "first-rate assessment of the delicate balance of power between Congress and the Supreme Court as it affects the American political process." The new digital republication of this classic work adds a 2014 Foreword by law professor Thomas Baker, who notes the continuing relevance of Murphy's insights: "The principal object lesson he offers is that what happened in the 1950s happened before and will happen again, that separation of powers showdowns are cyclical." In sum, "This book was recognized immediately upon publication as an important contribution to the literature on separation of powers and in particular the constitutional dynamic between Congress and the Court." It "continues to enjoy in the canon of constitutional law" a recognized status, to both legal academics and political scientists, as Baker explains in his contemporary introduction.

The new digital edition presents the original text and tables accurately and properly formatted as an ebook; it features active contents, linked chapter footnotes and endnotes, and even a fully-linked Index for continuity with the original print edition. Originally published by the University of Chicago Press, this is an authorized and unabridged new addition to the Classics of Law & Society Series from Quid Pro Books.

About the author

Walter F. Murphy taught constitutional law to generations of students at Princeton, where he held the chair of McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence first occupied by Woodrow Wilson. Born in Charleston, S.C., Murphy served as a Marine in Korea with a Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart. He graduated from Notre Dame and George Washington University, and earned a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. His novels include the New York Times bestseller The Vicar of Christ, which won the Chicago Foundation for Literature Award and was preceded by his unprecedented research in Vatican archives and access to church and papal sources.