Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...

Judicial Activism
Judicial Review and Judicial Activism
Prasit Piwawattanapanich
Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
The idea of judicial activism was first
developed in the United States of
America. Academics still debate the
definition of judicial activism because
different scholars interpret the meaning of
the term differently. Notably, the early study
of judicial activism was of interest to
American political scientists who wanted to
evaluate whether judges’ deliberation
processes were free from political influence
(in general meaning). Political scientists use
the behavioural or structural approaches to
achieve a better understanding of the court
system by considering judge recruitment
processes and career paths, as well power
relationships concerning the courts,
particularly in the American federalist
system.
Additionally, the idea of judicial
activism was created at the same time as the
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