Governing from the Bench

Governing from the Bench is the first volume fully dedicated to examining the contents of the Supreme Court of Canada’s “black box,” drawing on personal accounts of justices, law clerks, and other staff members to reveal the inner workings of this often-misunderstood institution at the heart of Canada’s justice system.

Macfarlane has made an original foray into the intricacies of Supreme Court decision making. Governing from the Bench has gone to considerable lengths towards opening the Supreme Court’s “black box,” and in doing so has brought historical institutionalism into the mainstream of the study of Canadian law and politics. I highly recommend it.

Bob Tarantino:
Macfarlane describes the aim of his book as being to “open the black box”; suffice it to say that he has done so masterfully by synthesizing earlier research and supplementing it with his own extensive work. He has produced not a meditation on how Supreme Court judging should work, but an empirical examination of how it does work, with important contributions from the point of view of the participants themselves ... Governing from the Bench is a gem of a book for anyone seeking to understand how power is exercised by the judiciary — an audience that should include everyone.

Lawrence Baum, Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University:
Providing fresh material -- including interviews with justices and law clerks -- within a role-based framework, Emmett Macfarlane paints a very clear picture of the Supreme Court as an institution.

Grant Huscroft, Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario:
While the importance of the Supreme Court has grown considerably in the Charter era, far too little is known about it. Well written and highly readable, Governing from the Bench contributes significantly to our understanding of the court and its work.