Democracy, Federalism, and the Rule of Law: Theoretical Perspectives on Constitutional Adjudication in the German States

In the third chapter of the book, I adopt a more abstract stance on the subject. On the one hand I deal with the constitutional foundation of state constitutional adjudication in general. On the other hand I discuss theories of judicial decision-making. I will draw on three central theoretical perspectives: Normative-legalistic approaches focus on the normative aspects of legal reasoning and the legalistic aspects of judicial decision-making. Behavioral theories focus on the empirically observable behavior of judges. Institutional studies, in contrast, deal with internal structures and decision-making procedures as well as the consequences of constitutional jurisdiction for politics and democracy.