LFB Scholarly

"A valuable contribution...Highly recommended. Graduate and research collections." -- Choice

Description

Ruggiero provides a systematic evaluation of the ‘interdependent nature’ of judicial power within three federal systems. She seeks to answer the question: Why are some high courts more powerful than others? By integrating strategic assumptions about the behavior of courts and other political actors and by employing a comparative, historical analysis of court policy-making and legislative responses to said policy-making, Ruggiero tests and refines concepts of court influence as ‘interdependent’. She finds that the influence of high courts and their decisions are shaped both by ‘intrinsic’ institutional features, as well as the ‘extrinsic’ environment (political and federalist).

About the Author

Cristina Ruggiero is Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in the College of General Studies, University of Pittsburgh. She earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on court influence in federal and supranational judicial systems, as well as on the retention and success of non-traditional and transfer students.