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A fundamental concern of government is getting citizens to comply with its laws. Yet, citizen beliefs on the importance of following the law have received relatively little attention in political science scholarship. People's feelings... more
A fundamental concern of government is getting citizens to comply with its laws. Yet, citizen beliefs on the importance of following the law have received relatively little attention in political science scholarship. People's feelings regarding legal compliance are driven by a dynamic and nuanced set of influences. In this study we explore the degree to which people are committed to the rule of law and the importance of legal obedience. We employ a structural equation modeling approach to assaying the factors that influence citizens' beliefs regarding the importance of following the law. We find that citizens' perceptions on the legitimacy of legal institutions and justice system scandals, among other considerations, can impact the importance citizens' attach to obeying the law. Some factors also wield indirect effects on compliance attitudes by influencing citizens' views regarding the legitimacy of courts. Our paper provides novel insights on this core aspect of government-citizen dynamics.
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The Bush Administration will likely have the opportunity to make a number of appointments to the Supreme Court; however, such nominations may lead to contentious confirmation hearings in the Senate. When such an appointment opportunity... more
The Bush Administration will likely have the opportunity to make a number of appointments to the Supreme Court; however, such nominations may lead to contentious confirmation hearings in the Senate. When such an appointment opportunity does present itself, questions are bound to arise concerning the appropriate role of the United States Senate in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees under the "advice and consent" provisions of article H of the Unite States Constitution. Disputes over the Senate 's proper role and scope of inquiry seem to emerge whenever a nominee has faced the confirmation process and have been a timeworn subject of legal debate. In this Article, we assess the proposition that the Senate should have an active role in the confirmation process, which includes investigation into a nominee's ideological beliefs and constitutional philosophy. We begin by examining the background of the Constitution's "advice and consent" phraseolo...
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... United States federal government. In doing so, we investigate how our model fares when ... remarkably successful record as a litigant before the US Supreme Court (Caldeira and Wright 1988; Caplan 1987; Sheehan, Mishler, and Songer... more
... United States federal government. In doing so, we investigate how our model fares when ... remarkably successful record as a litigant before the US Supreme Court (Caldeira and Wright 1988; Caplan 1987; Sheehan, Mishler, and Songer 1992). While the office of the Solicitor ...
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Debate rages over whether Americans have become enormously litigious, but little research considers why Americans file cases in the first place or adequately considers rates of litigation over time. This article examines tort filings in... more
Debate rages over whether Americans have become enormously litigious, but little research considers why Americans file cases in the first place or adequately considers rates of litigation over time. This article examines tort filings in ten representative states over a 20-year period and analyzes the impact of social, political, policy, and legal system factors that may account for case filings. We find that filing rates vary substantially over time within individual states, which adds to cautions about claims of general litigiousness. Our analysis also demonstrates that social complexity, opportunities for political participation, and social policy are the most important explanations for variations in filing rates. The tendency of Americans to use the courts to resolve disputes is related to the milieu in which they live and how the political system responds to demands for participation and social support.
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Objectives. Does aggregate ideological extremism reduce public participation? Does participation in governance processes fall when the social environment shifts to the extreme left or the extreme right of the political spectrum? Our main... more
Objectives. Does aggregate ideological extremism reduce public participation? Does participation in governance processes fall when the social environment shifts to the extreme left or the extreme right of the political spectrum? Our main hypothesis is that the ...
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IntroductionSuccessful oxygenation and ventilation can mean the difference between life and death in the prehospital setting. While airway challenges can be numerous within the confines of the emergency department, there are many... more
IntroductionSuccessful oxygenation and ventilation can mean the difference between life and death in the prehospital setting. While airway challenges can be numerous within the confines of the emergency department, there are many additional confounding difficulties in the prehospital setting, which include limited access to equipment, poor lighting, extreme environments, limited personnel to assist, no immediate backup, and limited rescue airway options. The concept of an easy, reliable, and rapidly deployable alternative rescue airway device is critical, especially when considering the addition of rapid sequence intubation protocols in the prehospital setting.HypothesisThe primary objective of this study was to ascertain whether paramedics can be trained to deploy this alternative airway device with an acceptable success rate in a simulated critical care airway scenario. The secondary objective was to determine whether the previously-trained paramedics were able to retain their abi...
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Some researchers argue over the existence of a “litigation explosion,” while others seek to understand the causes of variation in citizen legal mobilization and rates of litigation among states. Existing studies have provided important... more
Some researchers argue over the existence of a “litigation explosion,” while others seek to understand the causes of variation in citizen legal mobilization and rates of litigation among states. Existing studies have provided important insight into citizens’ propensity to invoke the state courts to settle disputes; however, there remain unresolved questions concerning state litigation rates. The authors argue that the structural aspects of state judicial systems, specifically the professionalism of the courts and method of judicial selection, have important implications for litigiousness. They further suggest that the effects of these institutional structural characteristics are conditioned on the political environment of the state in which they operate. The authors consider tort litigation rates in ten states over twenty years to assess the proposition that these institutional structural characteristics of state court systems affect state citizen legal mobilization, expressed as li...
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Abstract In this study, we focus on an unresolved problem in our understanding of the construction of the presidential issue agenda: how to reconcile the president's responsiveness to public opinion with his institutionalized... more
Abstract In this study, we focus on an unresolved problem in our understanding of the construction of the presidential issue agenda: how to reconcile the president's responsiveness to public opinion with his institutionalized electoral cycle. We argue that ...
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Two important perspectives on courts highlight fundamentally different elements of the process of adjudication and yield distinct predictions about judicial outcomes. The Attitudinal Model of judicial voting (AM) posits judge ideology as... more
Two important perspectives on courts highlight fundamentally different elements of the process of adjudication and yield distinct predictions about judicial outcomes. The Attitudinal Model of judicial voting (AM) posits judge ideology as a strong predictor of court outcomes. Alternatively, the Law and Economics perspective (LE) focuses on the settlement behavior of litigants and reasons that while judges may vote ideologically, litigants adapt to these ideological proclivities, nullifying the effect of judge ideology. This analysis focuses on reconciling expectations about the effects of judge ideology and litigant strategies by examining their contingent nature and the conditioning effects of institutional design. The analysis examines state supreme courts from 1995 through 1998 to identify strong empirical evidence supporting both perspectives. While some state supreme courts have discretionary dockets allowing judges to select cases they want to decide, others lack discretionary control, making outcomes largely litigant driven. The empirical support for each perspective largely hinges on this fundamental feature of institutional design.
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ABSTRACT The article addresses problems and concerns related to the upturn of elderly prisoners in recent years. The authors address end-of-life care in prison and the effect of sentencing guidelines on inmate populations among other... more
ABSTRACT The article addresses problems and concerns related to the upturn of elderly prisoners in recent years. The authors address end-of-life care in prison and the effect of sentencing guidelines on inmate populations among other concerns.
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We assess the link between a program's volunteer support and state social capital in the case of the joint implementation of the federal Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program by state and federal... more
We assess the link between a program's volunteer support and state social capital in the case of the joint implementation of the federal Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program by state and federal authorities. This program, which is designed to prevent elder abuse and ensure quality care in long-term facilities, is implemented at the state and local levels and relies heavily on volunteer staff. First, we find that volunteerism is vital to the efficacy of the program's monitoring and investigative functions. Second, we find that volunteerism in this program is tied to broader level conditions of a state's social capital. Last, we discuss the implications of our findings for volunteer-based programs devolved to the states.
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Presidency scholars suggest that the federal bureaucracy has become “presidentialized” and that the federal agencies have become a primary tool for presidential policy implementation. However, in its review of federal agency litigation,... more
Presidency scholars suggest that the federal bureaucracy has become “presidentialized” and that the federal agencies have become a primary tool for presidential policy implementation. However, in its review of federal agency litigation, the Supreme Court stands as an important monitor of executive bureaucratic action. Here, the conditions under which Supreme Court justices choose to facilitate executive bureaucratic action are assessed.
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In recent decades, political science has turned to the study of agenda setting as a central aspect of collective decision-making environments. The content of the public agenda – and the issue agendas of political institutions – make... more
In recent decades, political science has turned to the study of agenda setting as a central aspect of collective decision-making environments. The content of the public agenda – and the issue agendas of political institutions – make significant social change possible. Recent studies suggest that these political institutions are engaged in both competitive relationships, as they identify and pursue both active and latent public issues, and more complex cue-taking relationships. For separated powers, the problems of co-operation and competition with one another are entwined with internal collective decision-making dilemmas.In this study, we focus on the tension within a political institution between agenda setting as a mechanism for internal organizational maintenance, and agenda setting as a consequence of that institution's interaction with other branches of government and the general public. Specifically, we examine agenda setting by the United States Supreme Court, and ask the...
Research Interests: Sociology, Social Change, Social Movements, American Politics, Public Administration, and 15 moreDecision Making, Political Theory, Political Science, Politics, Supreme Court, Public Affairs, Political Rights, British foreign policy (Political Science), Institution, Constitutional History, Problem Solving, Social Science Research Network, Political Institution, Public Administration and Policy, and Collective Decision Making
Since the United States Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, the public's support for the judicial system looms as an especially important concern. Although studies have confirmed that the Supreme Court's reservoir of... more
Since the United States Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, the public's support for the judicial system looms as an especially important concern. Although studies have confirmed that the Supreme Court's reservoir of public goodwill has remained largely intact following the politically divisive decision, the status of public support for other American courts has received little attention. This reflects a broader trend in judicial politics scholarship toward placing inordinate attention on explaining public support for the U.S. Supreme Court while largely ignoring the courts where most of the policymaking in the nation occurs—state courts. We use a national survey to assess the factors influencing diffuse support for state courts. We find that although many considerations affecting diffuse support for state courts parallel the determinants of such support for the nation's high Court, important differences exist between explanations of citizen support for state c...