The European Court's Political Power

• Collects Karen Alter's seminal work interpreting the political influence of the ECJ, providing an accessible inroad to the views of an influential analyst
• Places the European experience in comparative context, giving scholars of international relations and comparative politics an insight into a major example of transnational judicial politics
• Provides a legally sophisticated analysis of the Court's development, introducing lawyers to the political factors shaping legal interpretation in Europe and beyond

Readership: Academics and advanced students of the European Union, particularly in the disciplines of political science and law. Academics studying comparative judicial politics.

Karen Alter, Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University

"The aim of Alter's book is to strengthen her contribution to our understanding of how international courts can impact on policy making at both the national and international level...Alter's book is a must-read for anyone concerned with the process of translating international law into social and political reality" - Marie-Pierre Granger, Central European University, The Modern Law Review

"Spanning the last fifteen years, one of the most recognized and respected scholars of the European Court of Justice has brought together between two covers many of her most important papers. Alter's deeply contextualized understanding of the Court dissents from both specific legal doctrinal analysis that tends to overlook political conflicts and overly general social scientific generalizations that breezily bypass a deeply grounded understanding of the politics of European law. An additional virtue of this outstanding collection is its comparative perspective on the European court and its recognition of broader international developments to which the Court may have given rise. Among both scholars and practitioners this book should find a large and avid readership." - Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University

"...it is a very good complementary reading in order to understand the history behind many landmark cases and legal policy decisions. For people with little exposure to the existing literature on European legal integration, the book is definitely a good starting point...Professor Alter must be commended for bringing the European experience closer to foreign and international scholars, especially in the United States." - Francisco Ramos Romeu, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Environmental Law Review

"If political scientists and international lawyers were to read only one book on the European Court of Justice, this should be the one." - Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School

"Karen Alter has done more than any other scholar to show how the social, political, and historical context in which the European Court of Justice is embedded shapes its role and impact. The four thresholds that she identifies also provide a basic for a comparative analysis of the role of international courts in world politics. With its lucid new introduction,<i>The European Court's Political Power</i> is a "must read" for anyone seeking to understand international courts." - Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

I. Studying the European Court of Justice
1: The European Court's Political Power Across Time and Space (2009)
2: The European Court and Legal Integration: An Exceptional Story or Harbinger of the Future? (2008)
II. The ECJ During the Founding Period of Legal Integration (1952-1980)
3 The Theory and Reality of the European Coal and Steel Community With David Steinberg (2007):
4: Jurist Advocacy Movements in Europe: The Role of Euro-Law Associations in European Integration (1953-1975) (2009)
5: The European Court's Political Power: The Emergence of an Authoritative International Court in the European Union (1996)
6: Who are the 'Masters of the Treaty'? European Governments and the European Court of Justice (1998)
III. The ECJ and its Varied Influence on European Policy & Politics (1980-2005)
7: Judicial Politics in the European Community: European Integration and the Pathbreaking Cassis de Dijon decision with Sophie Meunier (1994)
8: Explaining Variation in the Use of European Litigation Strategies: European Community Law and British Gender Equality Policy with Jeannette Vargas (2000)
9: The European Union's Legal System and Domestic Policy: Spillover or Backlash? (2000)
10: Banana Splits: Nested and Overlapping Regimes in the Transatlantic Banana Trade Dispute with Sophie Meunier (2006)
IV. Beyond European Court Politics- The ECJ in a Comparative Perspective
11: Agents or Trustees? International Courts in their Political Context (2008)
12: Private Litigants and the New International Courts (2006)
13: Law and Politics in Europe and Beyond (2009)