Political Question Doctrine

Some disputes, though they involve the Constitution, are not for courts to resolve. Chief Justice John Marshall noted in Marbury v. Madison that questions in their nature political are submitted to the executive and cannot be made in court. In Luther v. Borden in 1849, arising from a rebellion in Rhode Island, the Court held that whether a state has a republican form of government under the Guarantee Clause is for Congress and the President, not judges.

Baker v. Carr in 1962 set out the modern test, listing factors such as whether the Constitution commits the issue to another branch and whether there are judicially discoverable and manageable standards for deciding it. Baker held that legislative malapportionment was not a political question, opening the way to one person, one vote. Later cases found political questions in the Senate's procedures for impeachment trials of judges, in Nixon v. United States in 1993, and in partisan gerrymandering, in Rucho v. Common Cause in 2019.

The doctrine is applied narrowly and inconsistently. In Zivotofsky v. Clinton in 2012 the Court held that a dispute over passports and Jerusalem was not a political question, even though it touched foreign affairs. Courts have generally avoided ruling on the constitutionality of military operations, treaty termination, and impeachment proceedings. Supporters see the doctrine as judicial humility, while critics see it as a way for courts to avoid hard cases.