Across the globe, the domain of the litigator and the judge has radically expanded, making it increasingly difficult for those who study comparative and international politics, public policy and regulation, or the evolution of modes of governance to avoid encountering a great deal of law and courts. In this text two leading political scientists present the best of their research, focusing on how to build and test a social science of law and courts. The opening chapter features Shapiro's "Political Jurisprudence", and Stone Sweet's "Judicialization and the Construction of Governance".