Part 1 introduces the ways in which the judiciary takes part in the resolution of social conflicts. Part 2 deals with the organization and staffing of the Federal courts. Part 3 examines judicial power in terms of access to power, instruments of power, and the limitations of that power. Part 4 examines the distinctive methods that characterize judicial decisionmaking, and Part 5 presents analyses of the proper functions of judges in a constitutional democracy. Authors include numerous contemporary judges as well as Sir William Blackstone; Alexander Hamilton; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; Benjamin Cardozo; and Alexis de Tocqueville. Footnotes; subject and case indexes. (Editor summary modified)