Dumas, Marion (2017) Taking the law to court: citizen suits and the legislative process. American Journal of Political Science, 61 (4). 944 - 957. ISSN 0092-5853
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The institution of citizen suits is a decentralized form of public participation that allows citizens to influence the implementation of public laws in courts. How does this institution influence policymaking? This article proposes a model of citizen suits. It then analyzes how this institution influences legislative decisions. The legislature bargains to choose the budget, distributive spending, and spending on an ideologically contested public good (e.g., health care or environmental protection). I find that citizen suits enable courts to forge a compromise between opponents and proponents of the public good by responding to the diverse claims of citizens. Anticipating the mobilization of citizens in courts, legislators in turn craft more socially efficient bills, with less distributive spending, which better represent the distribution of preferences for the public good compared to when citizens have no role in the implementation of legislation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15405907 |
| Additional Information: | © 2017 Midwest Political Science Association |
| Divisions: | Grantham Research Institute |
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) K Law > K Law (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 21 May 2018 10:23 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2024 00:30 |
| Funders: | Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Fellows Program |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/88023 |
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