Our recent studies for the intrinsic Josephson effect are reviewed. We propose a simple phenomenological model based on the time‐dependent Ginzburg‐Landau model atT= 0Kfor describing the phase dynamics of a stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions. In this model the capacitive and the inductive couplings between junctions dominate the dynamics of the gauge‐invariant phase differences. It is shown that our model well explains the intrinsic Josephson effects observed in strongly anisotropic layered high‐Tcsuperconductors. © 2003 American Institute of Physics