Law and Politics Commons^™

The Limits Of Being "Present At The Creation", Roy A. Schotland

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Having been invited late to this Symposium and having read fewer than all essays, I offer, (with deep appreciation for the invitation), only mini-comments on three of the many valuable contributions: the essays by Professors Persily, Hasen, and Gerken. But first, at risk of pedantry, may I suggest changing the Symposium's title to something like "Baker and its Progeny .... (or "Baker, doughnuts, and holes"?). Most of the treatment seems to be about the progeny, as surely it should be. While of course everyone knows how far Baker went, what Reynolds did, and what was not done until after Reynolds, …

Judicial Campaign Conduct Committees, Roy A. Schotland, Barbara Reed

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As the other papers presented at this Symposium make abundantly clear, the problems associated with inappropriate statements and conduct during judicial elections are unlikely to abate anytime soon. Bench and bar leaders across the country are being joined by a growing chorus of members of the media and the public in demands that something be done. As an initial step that requires relatively little yet holds great promise, the authors endorse the use of judicial campaign conduct committees as a means of long-term improvement.

Law And Prudence In The Law Of Justiciability: The Transformation And Disappearance Of The Political Question Doctrine, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Essay develops the foregoing argument by examining, in Section I, the transformation of the political question doctrine from Baker v. Carr through Walter Nixon v. United States. Section II charts a similar, perhaps even more dramatic transformation of the law of standing. Section I then examines Bush v. Gore, explaining how older doctrines of standing and political questions might have been thought relevant there. It argues as well that the very fact that those doctrines went unmentioned by the Court shows why we must take a historically grounded view of justiciability doctrines. Section IV sketches the historical settings in …

Judicial Elections And Campaign Finance Reform, Roy A. Schotland

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In the judicial realm, the issue of campaign finance cuts across all states that use any form of election as part of their selection or retention system, whether the elections are partisan or non-partisan. The raising of money for campaigns is a task that has to be performed in all states that use any form of election. Like many other things that we have discussed today it seems to involve a sort of balancing act. The state certainly has a strong interest in protecting the integrity of its judiciary and encouraging the public perception of the judiciary as an institution …

Getting Beyond Cynicism: New Theories Of The Regulatory State. Foreword: Post-Public Choice?, Cynthia R. Farina, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Judicial Activism And Conservative Politics, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The New Deal ‘Constitutional Revolution’ As An Historical Problem, Edward A. Purcell Jr.

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Conceptions Of Lawyers' Agency In Legal Ethics Scholarship, Susan Carle

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Judicial Activism And Conservative Politics, Ernest A. Young

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Do Liberals And Conservatives Differ In Judicial Activism?, The Hon. Frank H. Easterbrook

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is There A Distinctive Conservative Jurisprudence?, The Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson Iii

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Allocation Of Resources By Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation And Administrative Regulation, John M. De Figueiredo, Rui J.P. De Figueiredo Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

One of the central concerns about American policy making institutions is the degree to which political outcomes can be influenced by interested parties. While the literature on interest group strategies in particular institutions - legislative, administrative, and legal - is extensive, there is very little scholarship which examines how the interdependencies between institutions affects the strategies of groups. In this paper we examine in a formal theoretical model how the opportunity to litigate administrative rulemaking in the courts affects the lobbying strategies of competing interest groups at the rulemaking stage. Using a resource-based view of group activity, we develop a …

Regulating Political Parties Under A Public Rights First Amendment, Gregory P. Magarian

Scholarship@WashULaw

The recently-enacted McCain-Feingold campaign finance law pushes to the fore the questions of whether and to what extent the First Amendment allows government to regulate the electoral activities of political parties. One of the new law's primary components is its attempt to eliminate so-called "soft money"- unlimited donations to national political parties that the Democrats and Republicans have used to circumvent legal limits on campaign contributions? One congressional opponent of the new law called it "the death knell" for political parties' role in elections." Not surprisingly, both major parties have attacked McCain-Feingold. Most Republicans in Congress opposed the legislation, and …

Separation And Interpretation, Philip A. Hamburger

Faculty Scholarship

Should the establishment clause be interpreted in terms of "separation between church and state"? If not, how should the establishment clause be interpreted?

At stake, first, is the character of religious freedom in the United States. In particular, will lingering separationist notions continue to affect the interpretation of the First Amendment? Notwithstanding the claims made on behalf of separation, there is reason to fear that it is not the religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. Indeed, it will be seen that the interpretation of the First Amendment in terms of "separation of church and state" has tangibly diminished this …

Controlling Toxic Harms: The Struggle Over Dioxin Contamination In The Pulp And Paper Industry, William Boyd

Publications

This essay addresses the challenges of controlling toxic harms through an intensive case study of efforts to regulate and remedy dioxin contamination in the U.S. pulp and paper industry. By focusing on the struggle to control a specific toxic harm in a specific industrial sector, the essay explores the politicized nature of toxic harms in the United States and, in the process, highlights the considerable shortcomings of existing legal frameworks and institutions for dealing with problems of such scope and complexity. In doing so, the essay raises a host of normative issues regarding current institutional arrangements and the appropriate strategy …

Natural Law And Public Reasons, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

In this Lecture I shall discuss the reasons that officials and citizens should rely upon in American politics. In recent years, various theorists have claimed that people in liberal democracies should rely in politics on "public reasons," reasons that are accessible to all citizens. Others have objected that such a counsel is unreasonable, if not incomprehensible. I shall concentrate on two facets of this issue. First, does the law exemplify a structure of public reasons – that is, do judges deciding cases draw on a stock of public reasons that is narrower than all the reasons one might give for …

International Environmental Law And Emotional Rational Choice, Peter H. Huang

Publications

This paper considers how emotions can foster compliance by rational actors with international environmental law. Many environmental issues are highly emotionally charged. Both supporters of and opponents to international environmental law often feel very strongly about their positions and views. A psychological game-theoretic model focuses on the disciplinary role that losing face may play in compliance with international environmental law. This model implies that non-compliance, especially by high-profile international actors, should be highly and swiftly publicized upon detection and verification. The model also explains why actors care so much about soft, that is, non-binding international environmental law, such as international …

Tanf Reauthorization: Is Congress Acting On What We Have Learned?, Peter B. Edelman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There is only one sure way to make something happen in public policy and in politics, and that is to organize. Sometimes external events-the Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam, Watergate, September 11th, Enron, and MCI WorldCom-will make things happen of their own accord. But we can't wait for events to create opportunity, and many such stimuli are in fact things we don't want to happen. So it is up to us. And the time for organizing is not just when an issue is at the forefront. Organizing is needed to build interest and support on issues over a longer …

Constitutional Pluralism And Democratic Politics: Reflections On The Interpretive Approach Of Baker V. Carr, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

Baker v. Carr is one of the Supreme Court's most important opinions, not least because its advent signaled the constitutionalization of democracy. Unfortunately, as is typical of the Court's numerous forays into democratic politics, the decision is not accompanied by an apparent vision of the relationship among democratic practice, constitutional law, and democratic theory. In this Article, Professor Charles revisits Baker and provides several democratic principles that he argues justifies the Court's decision to engage the democratic process. He examines the decision from the perspective of one of its chief contemporary critics, Justice Frankfurter. He sketches an approach, described as …

Lobbying And Information In Politics, John M. De Figueiredo

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Popular Sovereignty And The Electoral College, John O. Mcginnis

Articles

No abstract provided.

Baker's Promise, Equal Protection, And The Modern Redistricting Revolution: A Plea For Rationality, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The conventional wisdom contends that Baker v. Carr did not set down a standard for lower courts to follow. This Article responds to this position. It reaches three conclusions. First, it argues the implicit promise of Baker v. Carr pointed toward a loose, flexible rationality standard for deciding redistricting controversies. Under this approach, states were given much room to enact redistricting plans in accordance to their states' particular needs. Second, the lower courts applied precisely this standard in litigation in the wake of Baker, and did so quite capably. This conclusion responds to those who exhort the imposition of a …