The United States has a federal form of government, meaning that the power to make policy is shared between the national government in Washington and the 50 state governments located across the country. Federalism has certain advantages, most notably the ability for state and local governments to act based on better information on local needs. At the same time, federalism creates the potential for conflict between different levels of government in cases where they disagree on services, regulations, or other policy matters. When do such conflicts arise? Which level of government gets to have their say?

The policy-making process in the United States is like building a house. An owner (the American public) hires an architect (Congress and the President) to build a house. The architect decides what kind of house to build, then hires a contractor (the bureaucracy) to build the house. Because the contractor in most cases has built many houses, the intent is they know the ins and outs of the building process better than the architect or the owner. This expertise gives the contractor (the bureaucracy) considerable authority over how the house gets built. The same is true for the American bureaucracy in the policy-making process.

The courts act as the third branch of the government, checking the power of the executive and the legislature. The power of judicial review allows the courts to ensure the executive and legislative branches of government are not overstepping their constitutional authority. The use of judicial review has played an integral role in America’s history, particularly through well-known cases like Brown v. Board of Education, where racial segregation by the government was deemed unconstitutional. How did the judiciary, often described as the weakest branch of government, gain such a powerful check on the other two branches? What does judicial review do, and why does it matter?