Top hat question Perceived diffused costs benefits majoritarian politics Perceived concentrated costs benefits interests groups politics Perceived concentrated costs diffused benefits entrepreneurial Perceived diffuse costs concentrated client politics Putting some pieces together Defines opportunity structure Groups Startegics choices Fragmented political authority Creates choice of forum Grievances Creates imperatives to mobilize Brown as a political resources to shift perceptions about policy proposals Interest groups politics distribution of local benefits Brown creates a right to desegregation Entrepreneurial politics school desegregation is now a constitutional right being imposed on the south Civil rights groups civil disobedience highlights southern resistance to the law Majoritarian politics executive branch intervenes on the grounds that everyone benefits from the rule of law Litigation as constitutive of policy perceptions and as a result of politics Overview of the limits on law and courts 3 ideal types Doctrinal constraints limits on the courts derived from statutes court decisions or administrative regulations Institutional constraints limits its on the courts that stem from The way in which the courts are internally organized The way in which courts interact with other external political actors Cultural constraints limits on courts that stem from elite or public opinion NOTE these are general descriptive categories not water tight compartments some constraints fall into more than one category How do we know that law matters as a constraint Given the logic of the triad we expect judges to say that law matters in all cases So how do we know that it does Look at the type of signal textual content analysis of the underlying law Look at the voting patterns bahvorial analysis Some exapmles of doctrinal constraints in the US constitution Some laws are vague Article I section 8 the necessary and proper 4th amendment the right against unreasonable search and seizures 5th amendemtn and 14th the right to due process 14th amendment equal protection Some are more specific Article I section 9 the appropriation clause 7th amendment the right to a jury trial 22nd amendment presidential term limits 26th amendment right to vote for those 18 and above Ceteris paribus the more specific the law the stronger the constraint Behavioral analysis of doctrinal constraint Coleman v tollesfson 9 0 decision Ceteris paribus if law was a strong constraint ideologically diverse judges would vote the same How do we know the law matters as a constraint Look at the type of signal text content analysis Looking at voting pattern behavioral analysis revealed preference Judicial cant textual content behavioral analysis Judges apply some laws even though the disagree with the underlying policies Fugitive slave act Tax law Look at what judges don t decide a variation on the framing theme Constraints of judicial power v coercion Limits on the law and courts definitions continued Constraints on judicial power limits on the court s ability to act Justiciability Constraints on judicial coercion limits on the court s ability to implement decisions Remedy law Politically katrina The storm created a large class of claimants seeking compensation for their losses They first turned to the elected branches Unlike desegregation congress and president acted and passed legislation Passed a lot of laws Not that congress was unwilling to act but it was ineffective a different kind of political failure The promise of the courts The promise When the elected branches respond has failed what would happen The courts Class action lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers based on the design flaws of levee systems The limits Judicial cant Under the flood control act the army corps of engineers cannot be sued In 2008 judge duval upheld the limitation on judicial power even though the agency of gross incompetence