INTEREST GROUPS AND LITIGATION
Interest groups engaged in litigation are faced with questions of litigation strategy and of allocation of resources. Planned constitutional litigation, part of mobilization of the law, is problematic, as is the choice of forum in which the litigation is brought. Litigation by interest groups is affected by the political environment, including judicial rulings; the complexity of litigation itself; inter-organizational relations; and, most importantly, a series of intra-organizational factors. The latter include control of litigation, group longevity, relations between lawyers and organization, and organizational structure. These elements of interest group litigation are explored in this article.
Lawyers and the Appellate Choice
The role played by lawyers in setting appellate court agenda as part of an interactional policy process unique to judicial policy-making is a neglected research area among students of the judicial process. The research reported here is an explanatory first step in ascertaining those factors which affect lawyers' decisions to appeal cases beyond the Federal District Court to the U.S Court of Appeals and to the U.S. Supreme Court. The data are gleaned from responses to a questionnaire sent to a sample of lawyers who had practiced before the U.S. Court of Appeals during 1972. The results suggest a considerable degree of consensus among these lawyers as to the relative importance of various factors in the appellate choice, yet significant differences do emerge among these lawyers by virtue of legal value perspectives which are of importance to the agenda-setting task.
Compliance and the Law: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach. Edited by Krislov Samuel, Boyum Keith O., Clark Jerry N., Schaefer Roger C., and White Susan O.. (Beverly Hills, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 1972. Pp. 391. $10.95.)
an up-date of the research and an effort to draw some generalizations. Since the various parts stem from a common core of research and from a sustained interest of the author, this book has coherence that is not always found in collected works. Treason, like impeachment, has both legal and political dimensions that make it an appropriate subject of inquiry by the two most relevant disciplines—law and political science. Combining historical and analytical approaches, Professor Hurst deals with a variety of subtle and complex legal questions growing out of treatises, constitutional provisions, and cases relating to treason. But in a larger sense, his work is about politics for it explores the permissible boundaries of political conflict and competition, and the reciprocal obligations of individuals and states. The latter characteristics make the book relevant to political science.