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

对侵权制度控制权的部门间斗争一直是州政府中遇到的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。本项目既是三权分立制度下政策如何制定的综合模型，也是对侵权改革运动如何在五十个州发展的具体解释。具体而言，本研究解决以下问题：什么因素影响立法者制定侵权改革法规的决定？什么因素影响法官对这些法规进行司法审查的决定？使用多方法研究设计来回答这些问题。首先，通过一个正式模型分析了国家行为体之间的战略互动，该模型考虑了相关行为体的偏好和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和涉及精英访谈的案例研究形式的定性成分来评估从这个正式模型中得出的假设。此外，还对州议员和法官进行精英访谈。侵权制度改革是一个复杂的法律问题，不能仅仅通过形式和定量的方法来充分解释。利用精英访谈的详细案例研究方法对于获得具体因素如何影响精英决策的细致理解是必要的。其目的是为三权分立模式、国家政策制定和侵权改革的研究做出理论贡献。通过侵权改革的镜头，公共政策是如何被精英行为者相互依赖的决策所塑造的。侵权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三权分立之争。在这个问题领域，解读精英行为背后的动机揭示了显著的政策含义。政策结果不是随机的，而是许多不同变量交叉作用的产物。如果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，并可能重新关注我国侵权制度的差异。

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.