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Judicial Selection, Appointments Gridlock, And The Nuclear Option, David S. Law, Lawrence B. Solum Nov 2006

Judicial Selection, Appointments Gridlock, And The Nuclear Option, David S. Law, Lawrence B. Solum

David S. Law

In this paper, we employ simple formal models drawn from political science to explain the occurrence of gridlock in the federal judicial selection process, and to explore the implications of the nuclear option, by which a bare majority of senators employs parliamentary tactics to abolish the filibuster with respect to judicial nominations. Our application of a pivotal politics model leads us to reject the notion that appointments gridlock is a straightforward consequence of divided government. Instead, meaningful changes to the ideological balance of the federal bench require a more demanding ideological alignment of multiple veto players relative to the status …


Mickey Mouse And The French Identity, Sophie M. Clavier Jan 2005

Mickey Mouse And The French Identity, Sophie M. Clavier

Sophie M Clavier

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it offers a challenge to that assertion and observes the situation to be just the opposite -- that for all the predictions of a looming cultural disaster in France, the dialectic existing between American pop culture and the discursive resistance to it, have in fact provided a fantastic opportunity for France to reinforce a distinct cultural identity and to reclaim a coherent political role, both internally and externally. However that same discourse about culture has helped to obscure very real challenges to the French economy. The second goal of this paper is …