Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Synopsis of the advantages of the separate branches of government -- Rules of the legislative process -- Statutory construction : the courts review the work of the legislature -- Stare decisis : the self-imposed constraint by the judicial branch not shared by the other branches -- The proper roles of government : the case of obnoxious speech -- The exclusionary rule : when is a matter constitutional, when is it only policy? -- Affirmative action : the use of race by government -- The Fiesta Bowl : unintended consequences of judicial and legislative activism -- Defining constitutional rights : Roe v. Wade -- The Civil Rights Act of 1992 : the burden of proof as a judicial function used to achieve a legislative result -- Two statutes, a hundred years apart : when court interpretation changes between and after two separate legislative acts -- When the Supreme Court does not do its job : the Second Amendment -- Methods of solving disputes between (and within) the branches of federal government : legislative vetoes, delegation to agencies, courts' equity powers -- Another method of solving interbranch disputes : legislators going to court to sue the executive branch.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2009. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.