Nature of the Judicial Process

Search for careful and well-founded contemporary answers to age-old questions: What does it mean to be a good judge? How does the answer vary depending on location? What is an "activist" judge? What is a judge's proper role in achieving "justice" in a case? What is the requisite "judicial temperament"? How do or should politics and the will of the people affect the judicial process? Where is the best thinking and writing about these questions?