Doctoral Dissertation Research: Legal Strategies by Social Movement Organizations

长期以来，社会运动在美国民主中发挥着至关重要的作用。评论家经常将法院描述为社会变革的引擎，沿着政治光谱的社会运动都成功地利用诉讼来影响法律和政策。但尽管所有的焦点都集中在法院是否是社会变革的有效代理人，但很少有研究表明社会运动组织首先是如何选择法律的目标的。通过阐明法律的组织如何与更广泛的社会运动相互作用，本研究将有助于解释法律的组织在美国民主中的作用。(1)不同的法律的组织如何制定具体的法律的目标和战略？(2)法律的策略如何随时间变化？通过比较不同的组织，本研究确定了组织在决定如何应对不断变化的法律的context.法律的组织发展的组织身份，定义谁是参与组织，组织做什么，以及外界如何看待组织的关键作用。这项研究表明，这些组织的身份指导决策的法律的战略。当面临多种可能的战略时，组织会选择与其更广泛的目标最一致的战略。然而，这些更广泛的目标和组织身份有时也会发生巨大变化。本研究以四个法律的组织为研究对象，采用多方法分析，考察了法律的情境和对抗性因素对组织目标与具体法律的战略之间关系的影响。数据将包括：（1）对每个组织的历史研究，重点是组织如何采取具体目标;（2）采访每个组织的律师;（3）采访每个组织的客户;（4）采访反对每个组织的律师;以及（5）对每个组织的捐助者的调查。由于诉讼在社会和政治变革中发挥着核心作用，这项研究提供了对美国政治制度更广泛功能的深入了解。

Social movements have long played a crucial role in American democracy. Commentators frequently describe courts as the engine of social change, and social movements all along the political spectrum have successfully used litigation to impact law and policy. But for all the focus on whether courts are effective agents of social change, there is little research on how social movement organizations choose legal goals in the first place. By shedding light on how legal organizations interact with broader social movements, this research will help explain the role of legal organizations in American democracy.This project addresses two research questions. (1) How do different legal organizations develop specific legal goals and strategies? (2) How do legal strategies change over time? By comparing different organizations, this research identifies the key role organizations play in deciding how to respond to a changing legal context.Legal organizations develop an organizational identity that defines who is involved in the organization, what the organization does, and how outsiders perceive the organization. This research demonstrates that these organizational identities guide decisions on legal strategies. When faced with multiple potential strategies, organizations choose strategies most consistent with their broader goals. However, these broader goals and organizational identities can also sometimes change dramatically. This research examines how the legal context and countermovements impact this relationship between broader organizational goals and specific legal strategies.A multi method approach will be used to compare four legal organizations. Data will include: (1) historical studies of each organization, focusing on how organizations come to adopt specific goals; (2) interviews with lawyers at each organization; (3) interviews with clients of each organization; (4) interviews with lawyers opposing each organization; and (5) surveys of donors to each organization.Because of the central role litigation plays in social and political change, this research provides insight into the broader functions of the American political system.