Publication Date

2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Pickerill, J. Mitchell

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of Political Science

LCSH

Political science

Abstract

For nearly fifty years the U.S. Supreme Court's agenda virtually excluded cases involving structural-separation of powers issues, and especially those surrounding the legislative process. But in the early 1980s structural-separation of powers issues where moved back onto the Court's agenda, with the Court striking down federal legislation in INS v. Chadha (1983) and subsequent cases Bowsher v. Synar (1986) and Clinton v. New York (1998). This research illustrates the ways elected officials benefited from the Court's reentry into separation of powers issues, and in fact, how members of Congress and executive officials invited the Court to decide the cases. While some scholars argue that the Court was exhibiting judicial independence in this line of cases, it was really acting in the interest, and with the support, of elected elites who had a range of reasons for accepting the Court's authority in these cases. Over time, path dependent forces reinforced the Court's role in this issue area, and political actors now routinely defer to the Court's role in deciding these cases and accept its decisions. While these decisions do not seem to be explained by the ideology of the justices, they do fit a broader pattern of judicialization and jurisprudential regimes theory found by law and courts scholars.

Comments

Advisors: James M. Pickerill.||Committee members: Jasmine Farrier; Scot Schraufnagel; Artemus Ward.||Includes illustrations.||Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

214 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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