Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Segal, Jeffrey | Lavine, Howard | Lebo, Matthew | Bartels, Brandon | Wahlbeck, Paul
Date
2011-08-01
Keywords
Political Science | Institutions, Law, Legal Change, Supreme Court
Department
Department of Political Science
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/71364
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
In this dissertation I develop and test a theory of legal change that views the U.S. Supreme Court as operating within a complex legal and political framework. I argue that the Court uses the process by which it decides cases as an institutional tool, allowing it to exert influence in the broader political and legal environment. The Court does this by allocating agenda space to specific types of issues over others, and also by articulating legal doctrine in its written opinions that helps to shape outcomes outside of the immediate case. I test the implications of this theory in the context of both the Court's agenda setting and its written opinions. I find evidence of influence in these contexts not only from the justices but also from a variety of policy entrepreneurs that have a stake in the outcomes on the Court. | 178 pages
Recommended Citation
O'Geen, Andrew Joseph, "Legal Change on the United States Supreme Court" (2011). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 570.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/570