Judicial Independence: Often Cited, Rarely Understood

Abstract

In this article, a new definition of judicial independence is proposed such that 'judicial independence' can and should be defined as the judiciary’s independence from the executive, as measured by the amount of discretion that individual judges exercise in particular policy areas. This discretion varies depending on the political interaction between the legislature and the other branches of government. This definition, compared to the others reviewed, will provide political scientists and legal scholars with a better analytical tool for measuring and modeling judicial independence in both the United States and abroad.