Articles
Sham Constitutions (with Mila Versteeg), California Law Review (2013)
It is often said that constitutions are mere parchment barriers that cannot by themselves limit...
The Declining Influence of the United States Constitution (with Mila Versteeg), New York University Law Review (2012)
It has been suggested, with growing frequency, that the United States may be losing its...
How to Rig the Federal Courts, Georgetown Law Journal (2011)
Courts, like other policymaking institutions, can be rigged. They can be rendered highly responsive to...
The Evolution and Ideology of Global Constitutionalism (with Mila Versteeg), California Law Review (2011)
It has become almost universal practice for countries to adopt formal constitutions. Little is known...
The Limits of Transnational Judicial Dialogue (with Wen-Chen Chang), Washington Law Review (2011)
The notion that “transnational judicial dialogue” is contributing to the globalization of constitutional law has...
Contributions to Books
Judicial Independence, The International Encyclopedia of Political Science (2011)
This essay, a shortened version of which will appear in the forthcoming International Encyclopedia of...
Constitutions, The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research (2010)
This chapter from the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research offers an overview and...
Presentations
Why Supreme Court Justices Cite Legislative History: An Empirical Investigation (with David Zaring), Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (2008)
Much of the social science literature on judicial behavior has focused on the impact of...
Other
The Paradox of Omnipotence: Courts, Constitutions, and Commitments, Center for the Study of Law and Society Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program (2006)
The Paradox of Omnipotence: Courts, Constitutions, and Commitments, University of San Diego Legal Working Paper Series (2005)
Sovereigns, like individuals, must sometimes make commitments that limit their own freedom of action in...
Strategic Judicial Lawmaking: An Empirical Investigation of Ideology and Publication on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, University of San Diego Legal Working Paper Series (2004)
Previous studies have demonstrated that, in a number of contexts, federal appeals court judges divide...
Appointing Federal Judges: The President, the Senate, and the Prisoner's Dilemma, University of San Diego Legal Working Paper Series (2004)
This paper argues that the expansion of the White House's role in judicial appointments since...
Generic Constitutional Law, University of San Diego Legal Working Paper Series (2004)
This paper seeks to articulate and explore the emerging phenomenon of generic constitutional law, here...