Constitutional Courts

Law 579B

Political Science 533

Projects #2a and #2b
Importing Law

#2a.
1. I have assigned you 1-3 countries; I also have supplied you with a codebook.
2. For each country, conduct a LEXIS search for U.S. Supreme Court cases that cite the country. E.g., for Spain: Spain or Spanish, along with the name of its high courts, lower and upper houses, and reporter systems (see The Bluebook, under Foreign Jurisdictions). Unless I've specified otherwise, include all years up until October 3, 2004. Please record your search terms.
3. Take a look at each case. You'll code only those cases in which the Court referred to a court decision, constitutional provision, law, etc. of your country (see variable MAT1 in the codebook). As you'll see, you'll be eliminating a lot—if not most—of the cases.
4. Read each case and record the information for each variable (see the codebook) in an Excel, Stata, or SPSS file. If I assigned you more than one country, create a separate file for each country
5. Save your dataset(s) as the name of your country.
6. Email your dataset and your search terms to Scott Hendrickson by 5 pm on March 18.

#2b.
1. Explore the import database (which we've emailed to you). I.e., use the data to answer any questions that interest you. Detail your questions and answers.
2. Based on the data, in-class readings, and any other material you deem relevant, address this question: Should U.S. judges "import" law and other practices from societies abroad? Why or why not?
3. Email your work to Scott Hendrickson by 5 pm on April 27. Note: You are limited to 15 double-spaced pages—including notes, references, and figures/tables. Use either Bluebook or APSA citation style.