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

本研究考察了（1）在消费者法律的纠纷中，纠纷解决程序是如何建立和运作的;以及（2）这些机构对公共法律的权利有何影响。 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问题，这是一个公认的事实，但法律的和社会科学学者很少关注公法是如何以及在何种条件下在国家批准下被企业内部化的，私人法律的命令通过何种程序和机制运作，以及私人法律的命令对立法创造的法律的权利的影响。 本项目比较了一个实例，消费者保修纠纷解决的公共替代性纠纷解决程序运行和管理的状态（佛蒙特州）的实例，消费者纠纷解决的私人纠纷解决机构运行的私人组织批准的状态（加州）。 该项目包括两个阶段。 第一个是历史的，追溯每个国家？的立法历史以及判例法来研究如何以及在什么条件下出现了两种不同的消费者保护纠纷解决模式。 第二个使用访谈，内容分析和多站点分析人种学的方法，比较如何每个国家？的纠纷解决模式影响着法律的权利如何解决。 了解这些独特的公共和私人替代性争议解决论坛的运作程序和机制，将有助于更完善的政策设计和更知情的立法和司法决定。 此外，该项目还为法律社会学、组织社会学、美国政治的政治学研究和合作治理的行政法研究做出了理论贡献。

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.