EBOOK European Court's Political Power:Selected Essays

Karen Alter's work on the European Court of Justice heralded a new level of        sophistication in the political analysis of the controversial institution, through        its combination of legal understanding and active engagement with theoretical        questions. The European Court's Political Power assembles the most important of        Alter's articles written over a fourteen year span, adding an original new        introduction and conclusion taking an overview of the Court's development and        currentconcerns.Together the articles provide insight into the historical and        political contours of the ECJ's influence on European politics, explaining how and        why the same institution can have such a varying impact across time and issue area.          The book starts with the European Coal and Steel Community, where the ECJ was        largely unable to facilitate greater member state respect for ECSC rules. Alter then        shows how legal actors orchestrated an activist transformation of the European legal        system-with thecritical aid of jurist advocacy movements, and via the co-optation        national courts. The transformation of the European legal system wrested from member        states control over the meaning of European law, but the ECJ continues to have        differential influence across issue area. Alter explains that differentinfluence of        the ECJ comes from the varied extent to which sub and supra-national actors turn to        the ECJ to achieve political objectives.Looking beyond the European experience, the        book includes four chapters that put the ECJ into a comparative perspective,        examining the extent to which the ECJ experience is unique, or a harbinger of the        future role international courts may play in international and comparative        politics.