The hollow hope : can courts bring about social change? /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Rosenberg, Gerald N., author.
Edition:2nd ed.
Imprint:Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Description:xiv, 525 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Series:American politics and political economy
American politics and political economy.
Subject:Courts -- United States.
Political questions and judicial power -- United States.
Sociological jurisprudence.
Civil rights -- United States.
Women's rights -- United States.
Social change.
Civil rights.
Courts.
Political questions and judicial power.
Social change.
Sociological jurisprudence.
Women's rights.
United States.
Format: Print Book
Local Note:University of Chicago Library's copy 6 is a paperback.
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/6835485
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0226726711
9780226726717
0226726703
9780226726700
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 457-512) and index.
Summary:Contends that it's nearly impossible to generate significant reforms through litigation. The reason? American courts are ineffective and relatively weak--far from the uniquely powerful sources for change they're often portrayed as. Rosenberg supports this claim by documenting the direct and secondary effects of key court decisions--particularly Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. He reveals, for example, that Congress, the White House, and a determined civil rights movement did far more than Brown to advance desegregation, while pro-choice activists invested too much in Roe at the expense of political mobilization. Further illuminating these cases, as well as the ongoing fight for same-sex marriage rights, Rosenberg also marshals impressive evidence to overturn the common assumption that even unsuccessful litigation can advance a cause by raising its profile. From publisher description.
Description
Summary:In follow-up studies, dozens of reviews, and even a book of essays evaluating his conclusions, Gerald Rosenberg's critics--not to mention his supporters--have spent nearly two decades debating the arguments he first put forward in The Hollow Hope . With this substantially expanded second edition of his landmark work, Rosenberg himself steps back into the fray, responding to criticism and adding chapters on the same-sex marriage battle that ask anew whether courts can spur political and social reform.<br> Finding that the answer is still a resounding no, Rosenberg reaffirms his powerful contention that it's nearly impossible to generate significant reforms through litigation. The reason? American courts are ineffective and relatively weak--far from the uniquely powerful sources for change they're often portrayed as. Rosenberg supports this claim by documenting the direct and secondary effects of key court decisions--particularly Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade . He reveals, for example, that Congress, the White House, and a determined civil rights movement did far more than Brown to advance desegregation, while pro-choice activists invested too much in Roe at the expense of political mobilization. Further illuminating these cases, as well as the ongoing fight for same-sex marriage rights, Rosenberg also marshals impressive evidence to overturn the common assumption that even unsuccessful litigation can advance a cause by raising its profile.<br> Directly addressing its critics in a new conclusion, The Hollow Hope, Second Edition promises to reignite for a new generation the national debate it sparked seventeen years ago.
Physical Description:xiv, 525 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 457-512) and index.
ISBN:0226726711
9780226726717
0226726703
9780226726700