Courts and politics: what relationships?

People’s interest in the administration of justice has increased over the years as has the number of scholars engaged in this field. This is hardly surprising, especially if one considers how many countries have experienced an expansion of the judiciary and the magnitude of this evolution. In this concluding chapter we will first discuss briefly the prospects for research, stressing the need to widen the scope of empirical analysis and to study courts within the networks of relationships in which they are embedded. We will then describe the varying assessments of the process of judicialization. Finally, an attempt will be made to take stock of its effects on political systems.