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

自20世纪40年代以来，学术界对最高法院的行为和决策过程一直有相当大的兴趣和研究。尽管学者们在法院决策的许多方面意见不一，但几乎所有的决策都是在关于司法程序本身性质的一些基本假设下运作的。其中之一涉及在外部危机时期的法院行为，在此期间，美国或其国民受到另一国军事力量的威胁，如战争或其他外国对抗和争端。大多数法院学者的观点是，在动荡时期，法院对权利和自由的容忍度较低。这种观点已经根深蒂固地存在于学术文献中，从而成为“传统智慧”的一部分。然而，目前还没有系统的研究来确定危机的假设影响是否是一种有效的描述。这项研究将检验“危机”命题，该命题断言，在外部安全危机期间，法院对个人权利和自由问题更加不宽容。利用由法院自19世纪初以来解决的所有涉及个人权利和自由的案件组成的数据库，将探讨一些已知的宏观行为预测因素，以评估国际危机对决策的相对影响。独立变量包括当前党派对最高法院、总统和国会的控制措施；诉讼当事人的特征；以及外部安全危机的特征。这一项目不仅将决定危机论断的有效性，而且还将勾画出这一现象的轮廓，并发展其所依据的理论命题。这项研究将最高法院纳入了关于冲突和国家的一般理论，并在这样做的过程中融合了关于国家如何在内部对来自其边界以外的实际或威胁的冲突条件做出反应的理论和方法见解。与此相关的是，建立一个关于最高法院大约75年的纵向数据库，将使其他学者有机会深入了解法院的机构作用及其在政治制度中的地位，因为它随着时间的推移而不断演变和发展。最后，通过这种宏观方法观察政府的进程和行为，将为法律和政治机构的发展，特别是跨国条件的影响提供宝贵的见解。

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.