Culture and Legal Policy Punctuation in the Supreme Court's Gender Discrimination Cases. Issue 4 (November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Robinson, Rob
• Is Part Of: Policy studies journal. Volume 42:Issue 4(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 555
• Page End: 589
• Publication Date: 2014-11
• Subjects: Policy sciences -- Periodicals; Policy sciences -- United States -- Periodicals; Political planning -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 320.6
• DOI: 10.1111/psj.12075
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-292X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>For the most part, punctuated equilibrium scholarship has ignored the legal policy change generated by the Supreme Court. In this study, I address this gap though an examination of the Court's equal protection and gender cases from the 1970s. My case study here has two aims. First, I offer an adaptation of the jurisprudential regimes framework as a device for framing and identifying legal policy punctuations. After identifying <italic>R</italic><italic>eed v</italic>. <italic>R</italic><italic>eed</italic> (1971) as the cut point of such a regime, I then use <italic>R</italic><italic>eed</italic> and its progeny to illustrate the promise of culture in explaining stasis and change, specifically focusing on the concepts of cultural cognition and cultural surprise.</p> </abstract>