The Supreme Court and American Political Development

The Supreme Court and American Political Development. Edited by Ronald Kahn and Ken I. Kersch. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006. 400p. $45.00 cloth, $19.95 paper. In this book, Ronald Kahn and Ken I. Kersch bring together an impressive group of scholars to present essays on how the theoretical tenets of the American political development (or APD) research agenda can help illuminate the behavior and institutional trajectory of the U.S. Supreme Court over time. At the same time, these authors discuss at length the role that the Supreme Court plays in the continuing development of the APD enterprise and the ways in which the American state has evolved. This volume provides a useful contribution, as the APD literature has typically focused on the presidency and bureaucracy (specifically, executive agencies), and more recently on Congress, as the key players in the development of the American state, with “parties and courts” representing the historical antecedents. By focusing specifically on the Supreme Court, Kahn and Kersch place it in a starring role in American legal development, and American political development more generally.