Collaborative Research on the Effects of International Crises on Supreme Court Decisionmaking

自20世纪40年代以来，学术界对 以及对行为和决策过程的研究， 最高法院。 尽管学者们在许多方面存在分歧， 法院的决策，几乎都是在一些基本的 对司法程序本质的假设。 之一 这些涉及法院在外部危机时期的行为， 在此期间，美国或其国民受到威胁 另一国的军事力量，如战争或其他外国 对抗和争端。 大多数法院学者的观点是， 最高法院对权利和自由的容忍度较低， 动荡的时期。 这一观点已成为根深蒂固的 学术文献，使其成为“传统”的一部分， 智慧"然而，还没有系统的研究来确定 假设的危机影响是否是一个有效的写照。 这项研究将检验"危机"的论点，该论点认为， 法院对个人权利问题更加不宽容， 在外部安全危机时期的自由。 使用数据 包括所有涉及个人权利的案件， 自19世纪初以来，法院解决了一些自由问题， 将探索已知的宏观行为预测因子， 国际危机对决策的相对影响。 独立变量包括当前党派控制的措施 最高法院、总统府和国会; 外部安全危机的特点。 这个项目不仅将决定危机的有效性 论文，但它也将映射这种现象的轮廓， 发展它所依赖的理论命题。 的 一项研究将最高法院嵌入了一个关于冲突的一般理论， 国家在这样做的过程中融合了理论和方法 关于国家如何在内部应对 从境外强加的实际或威胁的冲突。 与此相关的是，建立一个关于最高法院的纵向数据库， 法院在大约七十五年将提供 为其他学者提供了一个机会， 法院的体制作用及其在政治体制中的地位 随着时间的推移，它已经演变和发展。 最后，查看 政府的过程和行为通过这个宏观层面 方法将提供宝贵的见解的发展， 法律的和政治制度，特别是影响 跨国条件。

Since the 1940s, there has been considerable scholarly interest and research on the behavior and decisionmaking processes of the Supreme Court. Although scholars disagree on numerous aspects of Court decisionmaking, almost all operate under some basic assumptions about the very nature of the judicial process. One of these involves Court behavior in times of external crisis, periods during which the United States or its nationals are threatened by the military forces of another state such as wars or other foreign confrontations and disputes. The view of most Court scholars is that the Court is less tolerant of rights and liberties during periods of turmoil. This view has become entrenched in the scholarly literature so as to make it part of the "conventional wisdom." Yet, there has been no systematic research to determine whether the hypothesized impact of crises is a valid portrayal. This study will test the "crisis" thesis which asserts that the Court is more intolerant toward issues of individual rights and liberties during times of external security crises. Using a data base consisting of all cases involving individual rights and liberties resolved by the Court since the early 1800s, a number of known predictors of macro-level behavior will be explored to assess the relative effect of international crises on decisionmaking. Independent variables include measures of current partisan control of the Court, the presidency, and the Congress; characteristics of the litigants; and characteristics of the external security crises. This project not only will determine the validity of the crisis thesis, but also it will map the contours of this phenomenon and develop the theoretical propositions upon which it rests. The research imbeds the Supreme Court in a general theory of conflict and the state and in doing so blends theoretical and methodological insights about how the state responds internally to conditions of actual or threatened conflict imposed from beyond its borders. Relatedly, the creation of a longitudinal database on the Supreme Court over approximately seventy-five years will provide the opportunity for other scholars to make inroads into understanding the Court's institutional role and its place within the political regime as it has evolved and developed over time. Finally, viewing governmental processes and behavior through this macro-level approach will provide valuable insights into the development of legal and political institutions and, in particular, the influence of transnational conditions.