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- Title
The Preemptive Power of State Supreme Courts: Adoption of Abortion and Death Penalty Legislation.
- Authors
Langer, Laura; Brace, Paul
- Abstract
We offer a theory about public policy adoption that depicts a game between state supreme courts and state policymakers. We hypothesize that court ideological hostility or friendliness operates to discourage or encourage policy enactment, with the likelihood of subsequent court intervention magnifying the relationship. To test the argument we examine the influence of court ideology on the enactment of state abortion and death penalty laws since the 1970s. Empirical analyses provide strong support for our theory, indicating that court ideological hostility or friendliness significantly influenced state abortion and death penalty policy enactments. In addition, the likelihood of court intervention conditioned this relationship, with the most pronounced effect occurring where subsequent court review was mandatory. The findings reveal courts exert important preemptive influence on law without hearing a case. This facet of judicial influence expands the traditional view of actors involved in the policymaking process.
- Subjects
JUDICIAL-legislative relations; POLITICAL planning; POLICY sciences; APPELLATE courts; SOCIAL sciences; LEGISLATIVE bills; BIRTH control laws
- Publication
Policy Studies Journal, 2005, Vol 33, Issue 3, p317
- ISSN
0190-292X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1541-0072.2005.00118.x