Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Inter-Branch Struggle over Tort Reform: Testing a Separation of Powers Model in the State Context

博士论文研究：侵权改革的部门间斗争：在国家背景下检验权力分立模型

• 批准号: 0752296
• 负责人: Stefanie Lindquist
• 金额: $ 0.6万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-04-15 至 2009-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0752296&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Inter; Branch

The inter-branch struggle for control over the tort system has been one of the most contentious separation of powers battles encountered in the state governments and provides an ideal natural experimental setting in which to examine how separation of powers affects public policy in state governments. This project serves as both a comprehensive model of how policy is formulated in a separation of powers system, and a concrete explanation of how the tort reform movement has developed in the fifty states. Specifically, this research addresses the following questions: What factors influence a legislator's decision to enact tort reform statutes? What factors influence a justice's decision to engage in judicial review of these statutes? These questions are answered using a multi-method research design. First, the strategic interactions between state actors are analyzed through a formal model that accounts for the preferences of the actors involved and the institutional structures that channel those preferences to produce certain policy outcomes. Next, hypotheses derived from this formal model are evaluated through quantitative analysis that uses systematic data over multiple years and a qualitative component in the form of case studies involving elite interviews. In addition, elite interviews with state legislators and justices are conducted. Tort reform is a complicated legal issue that cannot be adequately explained through formal and quantitative methods alone. A detailed case study approach that utilizes elite interviewing is necessary to gain a nuanced understanding of how specific factors influence elite decision making. The goal is to make a theoretical contribution to the study of separation of powers models, state policy making, and tort reform. Through the lens of tort reform, how public policy is shaped by the inter-dependent decision- making of elite actors is investigated. Tort reform is one of the most salient examples of policy making at the state level and has sparked an intense separation of powers battle between the state courts and legislatures. Deciphering the motivations behind elite behavior in this issue area reveals salient policy implications. Policy outcomes are not random but instead are a product of the intersection of a number of different variables. If one can identifies these different factors, then both proponents and opponents of tort reform can pursue their policy goals in a more nuanced manner and might consider the disparities in our nation's tort system with renewed focus.

部门间争夺侵权制度控制权的斗争一直是州政府中最具争议的权力分立斗争之一，并为研究权力分立如何影响州政府的公共政策提供了理想的自然实验环境。 该项目既是如何在分权制度下制定政策的综合模型，又是对侵权改革运动在五十个州如何发展的具体解释。 具体来说，本研究解决了以下问题：哪些因素影响立法者制定侵权改革法规的决定？ 哪些因素影响法官对这些法规进行司法审查的决定？ 这些问题可以通过多方法研究设计来回答。 首先，通过正式模型分析国家行为者之间的战略互动，该模型考虑了所涉及行为者的偏好以及引导这些偏好产生某些政策结果的制度结构。 接下来，通过使用多年系统数据的定量分析以及涉及精英访谈的案例研究形式的定性部分来评估从该正式模型得出的假设。 此外，还对州议员和法官进行精英访谈。 侵权改革是一个复杂的法律问题，仅通过形式和定量方法无法充分解释。 为了深入了解特定因素如何影响精英决策，需要采用精英访谈的详细案例研究方法。目标是为三权分立模型、国家政策制定和侵权改革的研究做出理论贡献。 通过侵权改革的视角，研究了精英行为者相互依赖的决策如何塑造公共政策。 侵权法改革是州一级政策制定的最突出的例子之一，并引发了州法院和立法机构之间激烈的权力分立之争。 解读这一问题领域精英行为背后的动机揭示了显着的政策含义。 政策结果不是随机的，而是许多不同变量交叉的产物。 如果我们能够识别这些不同的因素，那么侵权改革的支持者和反对者都可以以更细致的方式追求他们的政策目标，并可能重新关注我们国家侵权制度中的差异。