Doctoral Dissertation Research: High Courts and Socioeconomic Rights in Latin America

University Of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN

Investigators

Abstract

This project studies compliance with and the impact of high court decisions on socioeconomic rights in Latin America by examining the policy outcomes of landmark rulings on health, environmental and social welfare issues in Colombia and Argentina. The central research questions are: What explains variation in compliance with structural rulings and why do some of these rulings have greater policy impact than others' Impact is assessed in terms of the actual results of carrying out (or failing to carry out) new court-ordered or court-modified poicies when compared to the ostensible objective of the ruling. The central argument asserts that higher compliance and impact depend on the courts' oversight mechanisms (follow-up committees, public hearings, information requests, etc.) and the presence of a legally-empowered constituency in civil society. The research involves fieldwork on-site, including archival work and semi-structured interviews, as well as the construction of a database of printed media coverage of the decisions under study. Scholars and policy makers have long debated the ability of courts to advance socioeconomic rights. Some deem courts ideally located to step in where deadlock and electoral considerations prevent other institutions from venturing, promoting coordination and dialogue, while others view judicial intervention as prone to particularistic and irrational solutions, lacking a consequentialist perspective. This project advances this discussion by examining the extent to which court promoted oversight in conjunction with the presence of a legally empowered constituency can contribute to inform the creation and implementation of policy that responds to the larger sociopolitical context. This research has key policy implications, since court-promoted oversight mechanisms are relatively new additions in court's toolkits and are therefore understudied. Their institutional features and their potential usefulness are of critical interest to institutional designers, lawyers and members of judiciaries worldwide.