Two leading scholars of the Supreme Court explain and predict its decision making.

1. Introduction: Supreme Court policy making; 2. Models of decision making I: the legal model; 3. Models of decision making II: the attitudinal and rational choice models; 4. A political history of the Supreme Court; 5. Staffing the Court; 6. Getting into Court; 7. The decision on the merits: the legal process; 8. The decision on the merits: the attitudinal and rational choice models; 9. Opinion assignment and opinion coalitions; 10. The Supreme Court and constitutional democracy; 11. Conclusion.