1997 Winston S. Howard Distinguished Lecture

Abstract:     
Note: The following is a description of the article and not the actual abstract.

State supreme courts increasingly are called upon to resolve vexingly complicated constitutional challenges to school finance systems. State courts' treatment of these challenges frequently implicates key political, economic, and educational issues. In particular, school finance litigation evidences important structural stresses, especially those relating to the political question doctrine. From an empirical perspective, such litigation frequently presupposes the efficacy of court decisions. Where school finance court decisions do not achieve what they set out to achieve, one important explanatory variable relates to issues moored in the political question doctrine.

Accepted Paper Series