Friends of the Court

Ian Brodie is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION 1. The Political Disadvantage Theory 2. Interveners at the Supreme Court of Canada 3. Interest Group Litigation and Judicial Supremacy 4. The Market for Section 15 Status 5. Political Disadvantage and State Action POSTSCRIPT AND CONCLUSION NOTES REFERENCES INDEX

"Brodie's contribution illustrates the importance of the court as a political player in Canada. He demonstrates that the court systematically serves to privilege certain interests over others, in part through its power to grant leave to interveners. By contributing to the literature on the political nature of the court, this book helps inform the on-going debate in Canada, and other countries experiencing the 'rights revolution,' about the dangers of relying on courts to exercise institutional self-restraint." — Michael Lusztig, author of Risking Free Trade: The Politics of Free Trade in Britain, Canada, Mexico, and the United States"This is a well-written, astute analysis of an important development in Canadian politics. The application of the 'political disadvantage theory' represents an effective means of making sense of the recent surge of judicial activism in Canada. The author rightly notes the parallel between the American and Canadian judicial activism, and the common wellspring—the strategy of interest group litigation." — David G. Adler, coeditor of The Constitution and the Conduct of American Foreign Policy