Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-rvbq7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T14:29:31.491Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legal Mobilization for Social Reform: Power and the Politics of Agenda Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Mark Kessler
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article develops an agenda setting framework for studying the role of American courts in protecting and promoting the interests of the politically disadvantaged. Drawing from work on agenda setting processes in local political systems, the author presents a framework that examines the ways in which varying configurations of organizational power influence the types of issues that reach lower court agendas. The framework and its implications are illustrated with findings from empirical research on legal mobilization on behalf of the poor by federally funded legal services lawyers. The article shows the variety of mechanisms employed by powerful local interests to constrain poverty lawyers who wish to mobilize issues of social reform. The findings suggest that judicial agendas may reflect prevailing distributions of power to a much greater extent than is implied by conventional views of the legal system's utility in effecting social reform.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , 1990 , pp. 121 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I would like to thank Brad Canon, Shari Diamond, Jim Eisenstein, Mary Katzenstein, Arlene MacLeod, Doug Telling, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Claire Schmoll and Joyce Caron assisted in preparing the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant SES81-11984.

References

References

ABRAHAM, Henry J. (1982) Freedom and the Court: Civil Rights and Liberties in the United States. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BACHRACH, Peter, and Morton S., BARATZ. (1970) Power and Poverty: Theory and Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BENNETT, Robert W. (1983) “The Burger Court and the Poor,” in Blasi, Vincent (ed.), The Burger Court: The Counter-Revolution That Wasn't. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
BLACK, Donald J. (1973) “The Mobilization of Law,” 2 Journal of Legal Studies 125.Google Scholar
BUMILLER, Kristin (1988) The Civil Rights Society: The Social Construction of Victims. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
CASPER, Gerhard, and Richard A., POSNER (1974) “A Study of the Supreme Court's Caseload,” 3 Journal of Legal Studies 339.Google Scholar
CASPER, Jonathan D. (1972) Lawyers Before the Warren Court: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, 1957–66. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
CHAMPAGNE, Anthony (1984) “Legal Services: A Program in Need of Assistance,” in Champagne, Anthony and Harpham, Edward J. (eds.), The Attack on the Welfare State, Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.Google Scholar
CHAYES, Abram (1976) “The Role of the Judge in Public Law Litigation,” 89 Harvard Law Review 1281.Google Scholar
COBB, Roger W., and Charles D., ELDER (1983) Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of Agenda-Building. 2d Ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
COHEN, Michael, James, MARCH, and Johan, OLSEN. (1972) “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice.” 17 Administrative Science Quarterly 1.Google Scholar
CRENSON, Matthew A. (1971) The Un-Politics of Air Pollution: A Study of Non-Decisionmaking in the Cities. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
DAHL, Robert A. (1961) Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
DOLBEARE, Kenneth M. (1967) Trial Courts in Urban Politics. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
ENGEL, David M. (1984) “The Oven Bird's Song: Insiders, Outsiders, and Personal Injuries in an American Community,” 18 Law & Society Review 551.Google Scholar
EISENSTEIN, James (1973) Politics and the Legal Process. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
FRIEDMAN, Lawrence M., and Robert V., PERCIVAL (1976) “A Tale of Two Courts: Litigation in Alameda and San Benito Counties,” 10 Law & Society Review 267.Google Scholar
FRIEDRICH, Carl (1946) Constitutional Government and Democracy. Boston: Ginn & Co.Google Scholar
GALANTER, Marc (1974) “Why the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead: Speculation on the Limits of Legal Change.” 9 Law & Society Review 95.Google Scholar
GAVENTA, John (1980) Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
GITTELL, Marilyn (1980) Limits to Citizen Participation: The Decline of Community Organizations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
GREENHOUSE, Carol J. (1986) Praying for Justice: Faith, Order, and Community in an American Town. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
GROSSMAN, Joel B., and Austin, SARAT (1975) “Litigation in the Federal Courts: A Comparative Perspective,” 9 Law & Society Review 321.Google Scholar
HANDLER, Joel F. (1978) Social Movements and the Legal System: A Theory of Law Reform and Social Change. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
HANDLER, Joel F., Betsy, GINSBERG, and Arthur, SNOW (1978a) “The Public Interest Law Industry,” in Weisbrod, Burton A. (ed.), Public Interest Law: An Economic and Institutional Analysis. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
HANDLER, Joel F., Ellen Jane, HOLLINGSWORTH, and Howard S., ERLANGER (1978b) Lawyers and the Pursuit of Legal Rights. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
HUTCHINSON, Allan C, and Patrick J., MONAHAN (1984) “Law, Politics, and the Critical Legal Scholars: The Unfolding Drama of American Legal Thought,” 36 Stanford Law Review 199.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, Charles A., and Bradley C., CANON (1984) Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, Earl Jr. (1978) Justice and Reform: The Formative Years of the American Legal Services Program. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.Google Scholar
KAGAN, Robert A., Bliss, CARTWRIGHT, Lawrence M., FRIEDMAN, and Stanton, WHEELER (1977) “The Business of State Supreme Courts, 1870–1970,” 30 Stanford Law Review 121.Google Scholar
KAGAN, Robert A., Bliss, CARTWRIGHT, Lawrence M., FRIEDMAN, and Stanton, WHEELER (1978) “The Evolution of State Supreme Courts,” 76 Michigan Law Review 961.Google Scholar
KAIRYS, David (1982) The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
KELMAN, Mark (1987) A Guide to Critical Legal Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
KESSLER, Mark (1987) Legal Services for the Poor: A Comparative and Contemporary Analysis of Interorganizational Politics. New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
KINGDOM, John W. (1984) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
LANDON, Donald D. (1985) “Clients, Colleagues, and Community: the Shaping of Zealous Advocacy in Country Law Practice,” 1985 American Bar Foundation Research Journal 81.Google Scholar
LAW AND SOCIETY REVIEW (1980-81) “Special Issues on Dispute Processing and Civil Litigation,” 15 Law & Society Review.Google Scholar
LEMPERT, Richard (1976) “Mobilizing Private Law: An Introductory Essay,” 11 Law & Society Review 173.Google Scholar
LEMPERT, Richard-(1978) “More Tales of Two Courts: Exploring Changes in the ‘Dispute Settlement Function’ of Trial Courts,” 13 Law & Society Review 91.Google Scholar
LIGHT, Paul Charles (1982) The President's Agenda: Domestic Policy Change from Kennedy to Carter. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
LINDBLOM, Charles E. (1977) Politics and Markets: The World's Political Economic Systems. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
LOCHNER, Philip J. Jr. (1975) “The No Fee and Low Fee Legal Practice of Private Attorneys,” 9 Law & Society Review 431.Google Scholar
LOWI, Theodore (1969) The End of Liberalism. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
MACAULAY, Stewart (1979) “Lawyers and Consumer Protection Laws,” 14 Law & Society Review 115.Google Scholar
McCANN, Michael W. (1989) “Legal Protection for Social Inequality: Race and Class in Constitutional Ideology,” in McCann, Michael W. and Houseman, Gerald L. (eds.), Judging the Constitution Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman & Co.Google Scholar
McCONNELL, Grant (1966) Private Power and American Democracy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
McINTOSH, Wayne (1980–81) “150 Years of Litigation and Dispute Settlement: A Court Tale,” 15 Law & Society Review 823.Google Scholar
McINTOSH, Wayne-(1983) “Private Use of a Public Forum: A Long Range View of the Dispute Processing Role of Courts,” 77 American Political Science Review 991.Google Scholar
MILNER, Neal (1986) “The Dilemmas of Legal Mobilization: Ideologies and Strategies of Mental Patient Liberation Groups,” 8 Law & Policy 105.Google Scholar
MEEKER, James W., John, DOMBRINK, and John, SONG (1987) “Perceptions About the Poor, Their Legal Needs, and Legal Services,” 9 Law & Policy 143.Google Scholar
MORGAN, Richard E. (1984) Disabling America: The “Rights Industry” in Our Time. New York: Basic books.Google Scholar
O'CONNOR, Karen (1980) Women's Organizations' Use of the Courts. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
OLSON, Susan M. (1984) Clients and Lawyers: Securing the Rights of Disabled Persons. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
PERRY, Michael J. (1982) The Constitution, the Courts, and Human Rights. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
POLSBY, Nelson W. (1963) Community Power and Political Theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
PRO VINE, Doris Marie (1980) Case Selection in the United States Supreme Court. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
SCHATTSCHNEIDER, E. E. (1960) The Semi-sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
SCHEINGOLD, Stuart A. (1974) The Politics of Rights: Lawyers, Public Policy, and Political Change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
SETTLE, Russell F., and Burton A., WEISBROD (1978) “Financing Public Interest Law: An Evaluation of Alternative Financing Arrangements,” in Weisbrod, Burton A. (ed.), Public Interest Law: An Economic and Institutional Analysis. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
SORAUF, Frank J. (1976) The Wall of Separation: The Constitutional Politics of Church and State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
STUMPF, Harry (1975) Community Politics and Legal Services: The Other Side of the Law. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
TANENHAUS, Joseph, Marvin, SCHICK, Matthew, MURASKIN, and Daniel, ROSEN (1963) “The Supreme Court's Certiorari Jurisdiction: Cue Theory,” in Schubert, Glendon (ed.), Judicial Decision-Making. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
ULMER, S. Sidney (1978) “Selecting Cases for Supreme Court Review: An Underdog Model,” 72 American Political Science Review 902.Google Scholar
VOSE, Clement E. (1959) Caucasians Only: The Supreme Court, the NAACP, and the Restrictive Covenant Cases. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WALKER, Jack L. (1977) “Setting the Agenda of the U.S. Senate,” 7 British Journal of Political Science 423.Google Scholar
WANNER, Craig (1974) “The Public Ordering of Private Relations, Part One: Initiating Civil Cases in Urban Trial Courts,” 8 Law & Society Review 421.Google Scholar
YNGVESSON, Barbara, and Patricia, HENNESSEY (1975) “Small Claims, Complex Disputes: A Review of the Small Claims Literature,” 9 Law & Society Review 219.Google Scholar
ZEMANS, Frances Kahn (1983) “Legal Mobilization: The Neglected Role of the Law in the Political System,” 77 American Political Science Review 690.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).Google Scholar
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).Google Scholar
Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964).Google Scholar
Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961).Google Scholar
Miranda v. Arizona, 377 U.S. 201 (1966).Google Scholar
Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969).Google Scholar
United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144 (1938).Google Scholar