Explores the extent to which courts in Latin America protect individual rights and limit governments.

Introduction: courts in Latin America Gretchen Helmke and Julio Ríos-Figueroa; 1. Institutions for constitutional justice in Latin America Julio Ríos-Figueroa; 2. Enforcing rights and exercising an accountability function: Costa Rica's Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court Bruce M. Wilson; 3. Strategic deference in the Colombian Constitutional Court, 1992-2006 Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Raga; 4. From quietism to incipient activism: the institutional and ideological roots of rights adjudication in Chile Lisa Hilbink and Javier Couso; 5. 'Faithful servants of the regime' - the Brazilian Constitutional Court's role under the 1988 Constitution Daniel M. Brinks; 6. Power broker, policymaker, or rights protector? The Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal in transition Diana Kapiszewski; 7. Legalist vs. interpretivist: the Supreme Court and the Democratic transition in Mexico Arianna Sánchez, Beatriz Magloni and Eric Magar; 8. A theory of the politically independent judiciary: a comparative study of the United States and Argentina Rebecca Bill Chávez, John A. Ferejohn and Barry R. Weingast; 9. Courts, power and rights in Argentina and Chile Druscilla Scribner; 10. Bolivia: the rise (and fall) of judicial review Andrea Castagnola and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán; 11. The puzzle of judicial politics in Latin America: a theory of litigation, judicial decisions and inter-branch crises Gretchen Helmke and Jeffrey K. Staton.