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Political Question Doctrine

Constitutional, Administrative and Public Law Doctrine

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Origin 1962, in Baker v. Carr, setting out the six-factor test.

The political question doctrine is a justiciability doctrine in United States constitutional law under which federal courts decline to hear a case because it raises an issue the Constitution commits to another, politically accountable branch of government, or because no judicially manageable standard exists for resolving it. Its modern framework traces to the Supreme Court's 1962 decision in Baker v. Carr, which set out six independent factors, any one of which can render a case nonjusticiable as a political question, though courts and commentators have long noted the factors are applied inconsistently.

Facts
Origin Period
1962, in Baker v. Carr, setting out the six-factor test. 1
Core Principle
Federal courts will refuse to hear a case if they find that it presents a political question, one textually committed to a coordinate political branch or lacking judicially manageable standards for its resolution. 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Mootness, Doctrines

Mootness and the political question doctrine are sibling justiciability doctrines U.S. federal courts use to determine which cases and controversies they may hear.

In Legal System

Sources
1. Political Question Doctrine (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
Definition and Baker factors section
Quote, Definition and Baker factors section
Federal courts will refuse to hear a case if they find that it presents a political question.
View the Source
1. Political Question Doctrine (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
In Legal System: Law of the United StatesView the Source
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