Clearly a legislature is composed of different partisan groups battling for control. But what about a judge? In a way, the judge is just imposing the result of whatever the legislature decides but people often approach a legal battle as if the judge were an impartial arbitrator, and the courtroom is an “arena”.

To me, the arena analogy puts the government institutions in a place of impartiality. Lets even go back to the legislature. Clearly it is composed of partisan battles, but what about the rules of the game. Is the constitution an impartial third party or is it the manifestation of someone’s attempt to impose their will?