The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring about Social Change? (American Politics and Political Economy)

In follow-up studies, dozens of reviews, and even a book of essays evaluating his conclusions, Gerald Rosenbergs 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.

            Finding that the answer is still a resounding no, Rosenberg reaffirms his powerful contention that its 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 theyre 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.

            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.

Gerald Rosenberg is associate professor of political science and lecturer of law at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Washington, D.C., bar.

List of Tables and Figures        

Preface to the Second Edition    

Preface to the First Edition

Introduction 

1. The Dynamic and the Constrained Court

 

Part 1  ·  Civil Rights

 

Introduction

2. Bound for Glory? Brown and the Civil Rights Revolution

3. Constraints, Conditions, and the Courts

4. Planting the Seeds of Progress?

5. The Current of History

 

Part 2  ·  Abortion and Womens Rights

 

Introduction

6. Transforming Womens Lives? The Courts and Abortion

7. Liberating Women? The Courts and Womens Rights

8. The Court as Catalyst?

9. The Tide of History

 

Part 3  ·  The Environment, Reapportionment, and Criminal Law

 

Introduction 

10. Cleaning House? The Courts, the Environment, and Reapportionment

11. Judicial Revolution? Litigation to Reform the Criminal Law

 

Part 4  ·  Same-Sex Marriage

Introduction

12. Youve Got That Loving Feeling? The Litigation Campaign for Same-Sex Marriage

13. Confusing Rights with Reality: Litigation for Same-Sex Marriage and the Counter-Mobilization of Law

14. Conclusion: The Fly-Paper Court

Epilogue

Appendices

1. Black Children in Elementary and Secondary School with Whites: 1954-72

2. Blacks at Predominantly White Public Colleges and Universities

3. Black Voter Registration in the Southern States: Pre- and Post-Voting Rights Act

4. Laws and Actions Designed to Preserve Segregation

5. Method for Obtaining Information for Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1

6. Illegal Abortions

7. Method for Obtaining Information for Tables 8.1A, 8.1B, 8.2A, and 8.2B, and for Figures 8.1 and 8.2

8. Coding Rules and Methods for Obtaining Information for Tables 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, and 13.7

Case References

References

Index