Doctoral Dissertation Research: Dispute Resolution of Consumer Legal Complaints: Processes, Perceptions, Attitudes

本研究探讨(1)如何在消费者法律纠纷的背景下创建和操作争议解决程序；(2)这些制度对公共法律权利的影响。虽然消费者越来越多地在企业管理的内部和替代性争议解决论坛上遇到法律，这是众所周知的，但法律和社会科学学者对公法如何以及在什么条件下由国家批准的企业内部化，私人法律秩序运作的过程和机制，以及私人法律秩序对立法创造的法律权利的影响的关注较少。本项目比较了由州政府（佛蒙特州）运行和管理的公共替代性争议解决程序解决消费者保修纠纷的实例，以及由州政府（加利福尼亚州）批准的私人组织运行的私人争议解决机构解决消费者保修纠纷的实例。该项目包括两个阶段。第一个是历史的，追踪每个州。通过美国的立法历史以及判例法来考察两种不同的消费者保护纠纷解决模式是如何以及在什么条件下出现的。第二种方法使用访谈，内容分析和多地点分析民族志方法，比较每个州如何？美国的争议解决模式影响着法律权利的解决方式。了解这些独特的公共和私人替代性争议解决论坛运作的程序和机制，将有助于制定更复杂的政策，做出更明智的立法和司法决定。此外，本项目对法律社会学、组织社会学、美国政治政治学研究和协同治理的行政法研究都有理论上的贡献。

This study examines (1) how dispute resolution processes are created and operate in the context of consumer legal disputes; and (2) what are the effects of such institutions on public legal rights. Although it is well-settled that consumers are increasingly encountering law in internal and alternative dispute resolution forums administered by businesses, legal and social science scholars have devoted less attention to how and under what conditions public laws are internalized by businesses with state approval, the processes and mechanisms through which private legal orders operate, and the effects of private legal orders on legislatively created legal rights. This project compares an instance where consumer warranty disputes are resolved in public alternative dispute resolution processes run and administered by the state (Vermont) with an instance where consumer disputes are resolved in private dispute resolution institutions run by private organizations approved by the state (California). The project involves two phases. The first, which is historical, traces each state?s legislative history as well as case law to examine how and under what conditions two different consumer protection dispute resolution models emerged. The second uses interviews, content analysis, and a multi-site analytic ethnographic approach that compares how each state?s dispute resolution model affects how legal rights are resolved. Understanding the processes and mechanisms by which these unique public and private alternative dispute resolution forums operate will allow more sophisticated policy design and more informed legislative and judicial decisions. Moreover, this project contributes theoretically to the sociology of law, sociology of organizations, and political science studies of American politics and administrative law studies of collaborative governance.