Social Systems Theory and Judicial Review

This book demonstrates the empirical gains and integrative potential of social systems theory for the sociology of law. The study observes judicial review as an instrument for the self-steering of a functionally differentiated legal system. This approach allows close investigation of the US Supreme Court’s jurisprudence of rights, both in legal terms and in relation to structural transformations of modern society, and of the European Court of Human Rights’ privacy jurisprudence, which suggests the pertinence of the analytic framework to other rights and jurisdictions.