ABSTRACT
This first chapter of this book will consider the question of what abstract judicial review actually is and how it has developed over time. The power of abstract review lies somewhere between the purely legal activities and the political activities of a court; therefore, its impact is often analysed with a high degree of diversity across disciplines. An analysis of the empirical data related to the decision-making patterns in abstract judicial review, therefore, must be considered first and foremost within the diverse theoretical frameworks presented by the different social science disciplines that commonly study it. Moreover, the format that abstract judicial review takes differs across court models and cultural settings. This section will answer the following questions:
What is abstract judicial review?
What format does it take in the different cultural and governmental settings in which it occurs?
What is being reviewed?
How are academics able to study it?
