ABSTRACT
Both myths oversimplify the relationship between law and politics. This chapter rejects the myths and begins from the premise that although law and politics are closely related and frequently intersect, they are not identical. Politics and law are related because they both aim to organize human relations and allocate resources in a manner that promotes stability and predictability. Judges are immensely important in the common-law tradition. The common law authorizes judges to review all acts of government agencies, and no person is beyond the jurisdiction of the courts. Another link between law and politics is the influence of politics on the selection and the work of judges. One way to illustrate the difference between law and politics is to compare information gathering and decision making in a political and in a legal setting. Courts reconcile law and politics when their decisions, especially in controversial cases, reflect both defensible legal reasoning and sensitivity to political realities.
