Description
The United States government, represented by the Office of the Solicitor General, appears before the Supreme Court more than any other litigant. The Office's link to the president, the arguments it makes before the Court and its ability to alter the legal and policy landscape make it the most important Supreme Court litigant bar none. As such, scholars must understand the Office's role in Supreme Court decision making and its ability to influence the Court. It examines whether and how the Office of the Solicitor General influences the United States Supreme Court. Combining archival data with recent innovations in the areas of matching and causal inference, the book finds that the Solicitor General influences every aspect of the Court's decision-making process. From granting review to cases, selecting winning parties, writing opinions and interpreting precedent, the Solicitor General's office influences the Court to behave in ways it otherwise would not.
Chapter
2: The Office of the Solicitor General: "The Finest Law Firm in the Nation''
ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL'S OFFICE
FUNCTIONS OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL
SOLICITOR GENERAL SUCCESS
3: Explanations for Solicitor General Success
THEORIES OF SOLICITOR GENERAL SUCCESS
The Solicitor General as Agent of the Court. . .or Consummate Legal Professional?
The Solicitor General as Repeat Player
Repeat Players and Experience before the Court
Repeat Players and Resource Advantages
Repeat Players and Truthful Information
The OSG as a Repeat Player
The Quality of OSG Attorneys
The Solicitor General as an Ideological Actor
The Solicitor General and the Separation of Powers
WHAT DO THESE THEORIES TELL US ABOUT SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE?
4: Solicitor General Influence and Agenda Setting
THE SUPREME COURT'S AGENDA STAGE
General Ideological Agreement
Specific Policy Agreement
The Conditional Relationship among General, Specific, and Legal Agreement
5: Solicitor General Influence and Merits Outcomes
COARSENED EXACT MATCHING: A PRIMER
DATA, MEASUREMENT, AND MATCHING
Net Number of Supporting Amicus Briefs
Ideological Congruence with the Court
6: Solicitor General Influence and Briefs
A SHORT HISTORY OF SUPREME COURT BRIEFS
DATA, MEASUREMENT, AND MATCHING
Author Identity and Language Borrowing
Winning Status and Language Borrowing
Author Identity, Winning Status, and Language Borrowing
Author Identity, Winning (or Losing) Status, Mode of Participation,and Language Borrowing
7: Solicitor General Influence and Legal Doctrine
STARE DECISIS AND THE EVOLUTION OF LEGAL DOCTRINE
Doctrinal Development and Justices' Preferences
Doctrinal Development, Preferences, and External Constraints
DATA, MEASUREMENT, AND MATCHING
SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE
THE EXPLANATION FOR SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 4: SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE AND AGENDA SETTING
Operationalizing the Separation of Powers
Model Parameter Estimates
Evidence of CVSG Case Importance
Justices' CVSG Voting Behavior
Front-Page Coverage by the New York Times
Final Merits Coalition Sizes
Case Centrality in the Legal Citation Network
Additional Considerations
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 5: SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE AND MERITS OUTCOMES
Operationalizing the Separation of Powers
Model Parameter Estimates
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 6: SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE AND BRIEFS
Model Parameter Estimates
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 7: SOLICITOR GENERAL INFLUENCE AND LEGAL DOCTRINE
Model Parameter Estimates
The Solicitor General and the United States Supreme Court
：Executive Branch Influence and Judicial Decisions
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