Try free for 30 days

Preview
  • The Most Powerful Court in the World

  • A History of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • By: Stuart Banner
  • Narrated by: Graham Winton
  • Length: 25 hrs and 31 mins

1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Most Powerful Court in the World

By: Stuart Banner
Narrated by: Graham Winton
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $58.50

Buy Now for $58.50

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Will abortion be legal? Should people of the same sex be allowed to marry? May colleges prefer black applicants over white ones? These are among the most bitterly contested issues in the United States today. We answer these questions, and many more, by presenting them to nine lawyers—the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. No other nation commits so many important questions to its highest court.

Stuart Banner’s The Most Powerful Court in the World is an authoritative history of the United States Supreme Court from the Founding era to the present. Not merely a history of the Court’s opinions and jurisprudence, it is also a rich account of the Court in the broadest sense—of the sorts of people who become justices and the methods by which they are chosen, of how the Court does its work, and of its relationship with other branches of government. It is about how the Court acquired so much power, how it has retained its power in the face of repeated challenges and criticisms, and what it has done with its power over the years. Rather than praising or criticizing the Court’s decisions, Banner makes the case that one cannot fully understand the decisions without knowing about the institution that produced them.

Offering a fresh analytical window into today’s contentious debates about the Court—debates that often rest on dubious ideas about the Court’s history—The Most Powerful Court in the World helps listeners see cases through the justices’ eyes.

“Stuart Banner’s book is a study of the court that situates this institution firmly in both its social and human context. It is also, in my opinion, the most interesting, the most readable, and the most insightful history of the court yet produced. Congratulations goes to Stuart Banner for this tremendous achievement.”—Lawrence Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law, Emeritus, Stanford Law School

©2024 Oxford University Press (P)2024 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Most Powerful Court in the World

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.