POLS 216: The Supreme Court (HC)

Literature reviews are a particularly useful resource when doing research.  They address the issues involved in a specific question and the debates among scholars.  They map out the intellectual terrain succinctly and give you the major landmarks in terms of key authors and significant titles for greater understanding.  They will often also discuss new directions needed in research.  See this research tutorial for more information and resources.

Annual Reviews          

Lit reviews from Annual Reviews devoted in whole or part to issues related to your topic include these examples below.  Search for more: literature reviews using the case name or topic words.

• Climate Change Litigation (2020) in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science
• A Critical Guide to Bush V. Gore Scholarship (2004) in the Annual Review of Political Science
• The Decline of the Judicial Override (2019) in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science
• How Subtle Bias Infects the Law (2019) in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science
• The Legitimacy of the US Supreme Court: Conventional Wisdoms and Recent Challenges Thereto (2014) in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science
• Polarization and the Judiciary (2019) in the Annual Review of Political Science
• The Strategic Analysis of Judicial Decisions  (2010)  in the Annual Review of Law and Political Science

These handbooks, guide and reviews provide overviews that address issues, topics and individual supreme court cases.  The authors not only discuss key content but they also provide a more sophisticated level of analysis and contextualization than you might find in a textbook or introductory study.  The authors are chosen for their research in specific areas and deliver authoritative essays.  The material they choose to include in their bibliographies are good points of departure for further research and reading.  

The following sources summarize political and legislative issues and provide a good overview of the national policy debate on political participation, social justice, and other topics.  They provide an excellent resource for quickly identifying relevant legislation, key players, terminology, and points of view.  To find how to obtain the related congressional reports, hearings, laws and other materials, see the tab for Data and Other Source materials.