European University Institute Library

The nature of Supreme Court power, Matthew E.K. Hall

eng

index present

non fiction

The nature of Supreme Court power

electronic resource

dictionaries

693772786

Matthew E.K. Hall

Cambridge Social Sciences eBooks

Few institutions in the world are credited with initiating and confounding political change on the scale of the United States Supreme Court. The Court is uniquely positioned to enhance or inhibit political reform, enshrine or dismantle social inequalities, and expand or suppress individual rights. Yet despite claims of victory from judicial activists and complaints of undemocratic lawmaking from the Court's critics, numerous studies of the Court assert that it wields little real power. This book examines the nature of Supreme Court power by identifying conditions under which the Court is successful at altering the behavior of state and private actors. Employing a series of longitudinal studies that use quantitative measures of behavior outcomes across a wide range of issue areas, it develops and supports a new theory of Supreme Court power.--, Provided by publisher

Neither force, nor will -- When courts command: -- Defining judicial power ; Competing theories of Supreme Court power ; Forming a new theory of Supreme Court power -- Judging the court: -- The problem of strategic court action ; Evaluating Supreme Court power ; Summary of hypotheses -- Popular vertical issues: The Religious Freedom Restoration Act ; The Pentagon Papers case ; Summary: Popular vertical issues -- Unpopular vertical issues: -- Abortion ; Flag desecration ; Obscenity ; The exclusionary rule ; Miranda warnings ; Warrantless eavesdropping ; The right to counsel ; Capital punishment ; Free press in the courtroom ; Sovereign immunity ; The Gun-Free School Zones Act ; Summary: Unpopular vertical issues -- Popular lateral issues: -- Reapportionment ; Majority-minority congressional districts ; The legislative veto ; Public aid to religious schools ; Affirmative action in college admissions ; Student religious publications at public universities ; Minimum wage for state employees ; Bush v. Gore ; Summary: Popular lateral issues -- Unpopular lateral issues: -- School desegregation ; School prayer ; Censorship in public education ; Minority set-aside programs ; Congressional exclusion ; The Brady Bill ; Summary: Unpopular lateral issues -- Neither the sword nor the purse, but the keys: -- Persistent puzzles -- The Supreme Court as a mechanism for social change ; Judicial review in the American political system -- Appendix I. Case selection -- Appendix II. Survey information and citations -- Appendix III. Supporting data for figures -- Appendix IV. Statistical analysis on the effects of the Pico ruling -- Appendix V. Behavior conformity calculations -- Appendix VI. Statistical analysis of behavior conformity -- Appendix VII. The effects of unanimity on behavior conformity