Supreme Court agenda setting : strategic behavior during case selection

Much research is devoted to the decision-making power and precedent set by the Supreme Court. Less attention, however, is given to the strategic behavior during case selection. This book argues that case selection is done strategically, and by means of various criteria - influencing its constitutional position and importance.

• List of Figures p. ix
• List of Tables p. xi
• Preface p. xiii
• Acknowledgments p. xv
• 1 Introduction p. 1
• 2 The History and Institutions of the Writ of Certiorari p. 13
• 3 The Theoretical Framework: Case Selection and Strategic Behavior on the Court p. 29
• 4 Voting Contingents, Cert Pivots, and Voting Volatility p. 45
• 5 Strategic Votes on Cert: Evidence from Justices' Papers p. 61
• 6 Opinion Authorship and Strategic Cert p. 83
• 7 Conclusions p. 109
• Appendix 1 SIMEX Computations p. 115
• Appendix 2 The Judiciary Act of 1925 p. 117
• Appendix 3 Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States p. 129
• Appendix 4 Original Material from the Blackmun Files p. 139
• Notes p. 159
• References p. 171
• Index p. 183