Hollow Hope book review Essays - The Hollow Hope,

Hollow Hope book review Eng 316 Book Review The Hollow Hope as a Pioneer in Political Science Research Many books pioneer certain ways of analyzing topics, yet it is very rare that a first attempt can demonstrate such a great amount of success. Gerald Rosenbergs (1991) Hollow Hope is such a book. Since the early 1950s, political scientists taking a political or procedural approach to the study of law and courts had asked, according to Jack Peltason (2000): What happens after the lawsuit is over? Rather than focusing almost entirely on the court decision itself, as in traditional constitutional law, political scientists slowly began to broaden their inquiry to include the continuing political struggle following court decisions. Even a brief examination of this topic makes it clear that court decisions themselves are only one stage of the continuing political, policy-making, process. Through Rosenbergs empirical research as illustrated in Hollow Hope, it is clear that his theories can be applied in many instances successfully to understand the effect the court has on society. Political scientists had long attempted to study the interaction of law and social change in hope to answer the ultimate questions of the effect law has on society. Robert Dahl (1991) first asked Can law, particularly court made law, bring about social change? However, it was Rosenberg who took this question to the next level in Hollow Hope asking To what degree, and under what conditions, can court decisions be used to produce political and social change? What are the constraints that hold back the court? What factors effect the courts implementation of a decision, and why are these factors of any meaning? (1993, p. 1). These are the main issue for modern students of law and politics, which makes one wonder why the matter had not been more directly and thoroughly addressed up until this time. Most books prior to Hollow Hope contained information in the form of provisional answers, yet no one had produced an in-depth study as Rosenberg. Rosenberg begins his book by presenting two contrasting views of social change due to court decisions. These he calls these the dynamic court view and the constrained court view. The dynamic court view, defined as the myth of rights by the law schools and by American liberals, holds that American courts have undeniably produced dramatic social change. Brown v. Board of Education, Baker v. Carr, and Roe v. Wade are the main cases one would rely on to accepted the dynamic court view. The constrained court view on the other hand, looks at Hamiltons least dangerous branch argument, that having the power of neither purse nor sword, and constrained by the more powerful democratically elected branches, court decisions can bring change, if at all, only along the edges of policy making. At the beginning of his book, Rosenberg constructs two models: the constrained court view and the dynamic court view. The dynamic court view states that courts may produce social reform if (a) other actors offer positive incentives toward compliance, (b) outsiders impose costs to induce compliance, (c) decisions can be implemented by the market itself, and (d) decisions offer rationalizations for those already willing to act. Constraints on the Court bringing about significant social change include: (1) the limited nature of constitutional rights, (2) the lack of independence from the other branches of government, and (3) lack of judicial implementation power. Considering all of these factors, Rosenberg (1993 p. 35) hypothesizes that the Constrained Court view more closely approximates the role of the courts in the American political system. While courts can be effective producers of significant social reform.this occurs only when a great deal of change has already been made. Turning to the empirical evidence, Rosenberg examines our experience with civil rights, abortion and other womens rights, the environment, reappointment, and criminal law. In each case study, he carefully explores all available research evidence, examining not only the direct effects of court decision, but the indirect impact as well. In each instance, he is forced to conclude that where social change is present, it came only after significant change had occurred in legislative or administrative agency policies, or that change had already been initiated and was already well underway. Pressures for change in black

Free Essays on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Dropping the Atomic Bomb On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Tibbetts, was chosen to make the mission. The mission was recorded as successful by Capt. William S. Parson at 9:20 A.M. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United States justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? Yes, they were justified for many reasons. The primary reason was, that it would stop the war. Why is it that this war needed to be stopped so badly? Even though in some ways it was helping our economy, it was very costly in both money and lives. Also, the United States soldiers were undergoing harsh treatment by the unmerciful Japanese. Another reason the war needed to be stopped was to defend ourselves from another attack on U.S. soil, which in turn would kill many of our U.S. citizens. This is why the war needed to be stopped; thus, justifying the use of the atomic bomb. World War II was the costlies t war in history, in terms of lives lost. No exact figures exist, but approximately between 15 and 20 million military personnel were killed. Of these, 292,000 were Americans and 6,000 innocent United States citizens were murdered by our enemies. It has been estimated that if the United States had not dropped the bomb and had invaded Japan instead, the United States would have lost about a million soldiers. The Japanese suicidal fighting strategies greatly effected this number. The Japanese would rather die than surrender. This is demonstrated by the battle of Saipan. At this battle over half of the population of Saipan walked off a cliff instead of surrendering to the United States. This was often very effective. Many times when a Japanese soldier decided to blow himself up instead of surrendering he would kill many Americans with the same blast. Also the kamikaze techniques of the Japanese fighters killed many soldiers. If this wa... Free Essays on Dropping the Atomic Bomb Free Essays on Dropping the Atomic Bomb Dropping the Atomic Bomb On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Tibbetts, was chosen to make the mission. The mission was recorded as successful by Capt. William S. Parson at 9:20 A.M. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United States justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? Yes, they were justified for many reasons. The primary reason was, that it would stop the war. Why is it that this war needed to be stopped so badly? Even though in some ways it was helping our economy, it was very costly in both money and lives. Also, the United States soldiers were undergoing harsh treatment by the unmerciful Japanese. Another reason the war needed to be stopped was to defend ourselves from another attack on U.S. soil, which in turn would kill many of our U.S. citizens. This is why the war needed to be stopped; thus, justifying the use of the atomic bomb. World War II was the costlies t war in history, in terms of lives lost. No exact figures exist, but approximately between 15 and 20 million military personnel were killed. Of these, 292,000 were Americans and 6,000 innocent United States citizens were murdered by our enemies. It has been estimated that if the United States had not dropped the bomb and had invaded Japan instead, the United States would have lost about a million soldiers. The Japanese suicidal fighting strategies greatly effected this number. The Japanese would rather die than surrender. This is demonstrated by the battle of Saipan. At this battle over half of the population of Saipan walked off a cliff instead of surrendering to the United States. This was often very effective. Many times when a Japanese soldier decided to blow himself up instead of surrendering he would kill many Americans with the same blast. Also the kamikaze techniques of the Japanese fighters killed many soldiers. If this wa...