ABSTRACT
American style judicial review is certainly alluring. To judges it offers a prominent, sometimes even heroic, role. During the first part of the twentieth century judicial power was used aggressively against economic regulation, especially New Deal reforms. In the United States, theories of judicial review typically assert that the practice should be highly selective. Strong judicial review in the United States has accelerated other trends towards political centralization while it has subverted traditional legal norms. The increasing importance of federal judges on matters of immediate importance to people's personal and political lives means that lavish resources are devoted to national judicial discourse. Precisely because judicial review both reflects and shapes a culture, it is difficult to know whether the American experience would be repeated if Australia were to move further toward strong judicial review. Intervening in difficult circumstances on behalf of the highest and best principles, the judiciary rises above political struggle and inertia to achieve powerful lucidity.
