Collaborative Project: Extending the Multi-User Dabase of Decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals

该项目建立在现有的美国上诉法院判决多用户数据库的基础上。多用户数据库最初是由美国国家科学基金会资助的，它是从美国上诉法院公布的判决样本中提取的综合资源。这个丰富的数据集有200多个变量，目前包括对1926年至1996年上诉法院大约20,000个判决的观察结果。对71年期间的观察结果的收集促成了几份出版的手稿，这些手稿有助于从问题议程的纵向分析到案件结果模型和司法投票行为的调查线。这个关于上诉法院判决的综合数据库刺激了对法院的研究，这些法院以前被描述为“在主要联邦机构中被了解最少的法院之一”。尽管如此，如果这个数据源不能保持最新，它的效用将随着时间的推移而减少。国家一级政治权力的变化、高等法院判例的理论变化以及新通过的法规所产生的不断演变的问题，继续成为21世纪上诉法院法官决策环境的特征。这些发展要求法律和法院学术继续利用来自当前司法判决的来源。该项目扩展了现有的多用户数据库，以包括1997-2002年上诉法院的判决。除了更新现有数据库外，该建议还增加了原始抽样设计的样本量，并增加了几个变量以增强该数据源的效用。

This project builds on the existing Multi-User Database of decisions on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Originally funded with support from the National Science Foundation, the Multi-User Database is a comprehensive source drawn from a sample of published decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. This rich dataset, with over 200 variables, currently includes observations for approximately 20,000 decisions of the appeals courts from 1926 to 1996. The collection of observations over a seventy-one year period has contributed to several published manuscripts that contribute to lines of inquiry that range from longitudinal analyses of issue agendas to models of case outcomes and judicial voting behavior. This comprehensive database on appeals court decisions has stimulated research on courts that had previously been described as "among the least comprehended of the major federal institutions." Nonetheless, the utility of this data source will diminish over time if it does not remain up-to-date. Shifts in political power at the national level, doctrinal change in High Court precedent, and evolving issues created by newly-passed statutes continue to characterize the decision making environment for appeals court judges in the twenty-first century. These developments require that law and courts scholarship continue to draw upon sources that are derived from current judicial decisions. This project extends the existing Multi-User Database to include decisions of the appeals courts from 1997-2002. In addition to updating the existing database, the proposal increases the sample size from the original sampling design and adds several variables to enhance the utility of this data source.