Using their broad study of the U.S. judicial system, Judicial Process in America, as a base, Carp and Stidham narrow their focus to the federal judiciary in a third edition of The Federal Courts.Federal court policymaking affects all citizens, with rulings ranging from rose that evaluate the merits of controversial art shows to those that judge the fairness of a congressional district boundary. To put this policymaking in context, the authors discuss the types of cases before the federal bench, the decisionmaking process, and the backgrounds of the judges. Drawing on their own original research, the authors explore the effect of party affiliation on a judge's decisions across different areas of the law.
