Promises, promises -- Understanding the impact of state supreme courts -- Early same-sex marriage decisions -- Massachusetts and beyond -- Policy initiation : the diffusion of same-sex marriage cases across the states -- Policy legitimation : evaluating the capacity of state courts to change public opinion -- Policy endurance : the enactment of state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage -- The promise of state courts
Summary
In Courthouse Democracy and Minority Rights: Same-Sex Marriage in the States, Robert J. Hume examines how the democratization of state courts and state constitutional systems has influenced the capacity of judges to protect minority rights. Through an intensive examination of same-sex marriage policy, Hume shows that democratic innovations like judicial elections and initiative amendment procedures have conditioned the impact of judges on state marriage laws. Using a combination of original and publicly available data, Hume demonstrates that ""courthouse democracy"" has influenced the behavior
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-212) and index
