Judicial Federalism After Bush v. Gore: Some Observations

Abstract

This article addresses recent developments in judicial federalism, a term that encompasses both how federal courts police the boundaries between federal and state power and how federal and state courts interact. The revival of academic interest in federalism is reflected in a burgeoning literature, but only recently have legal academics and social scientists begun to appreciate their respective scholarship on the topic. The much-discussed case of Bush v. Gore (2000) raises significant issues of judicial federalism, but it is unlikely to portend important shifts in how we consider the topic. The article concludes with a suggested agenda for future empirical research on judicial federalism.