U.s. Supreme Court's Political Function

The Federal Supreme Court of the United States has been established for almost 220 years since 1789. At the very beginning, it has no authority at all, while 1803 was a major turning point, the Marbury v Madison case brought the court judicial review power, which was crucial in checking and balancing the executive and legislative power, along with great prestige and wide acclaim. With the judicial review power, the Federal Supreme Court, which was originally a quite ignorable part, became a most critical authority in the checks and balance system of the United States. This paper aims at reviewing the role which the Federal Supreme Court has played during the whole process of American political system, and introducing its main political functions, that is, sorted by political focus and domain, safeguarding democratic constitutionalism, regulating the exercise of power, perfecting the checks and balance system, resolving political crisis and ensuring equality and justice in the United States.The paper is basically consists of three parts, with ChapterⅠfocusing on the review of the Federal Supreme Court's position on the political stage, ChapterⅡintroducing and illustrating the above-stated five major functions of the Supreme Court in the American politics and ChapterⅢdevoted to reveal the restrictions on the exercise of the Federal Supreme Court's political functions. Furthermore, in the conclusion part of the paper, the author stated some thoughts on how the Federal Supreme Court could better exercise its power and fulfill its political functions via debate on judicial activism and judicial restraint.