Explaining Litigation in the United States Supreme Court (2013)

Undergraduate: Katie Wheeler

Faculty Advisor: Isaac Unah
Department: Political Science

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From the 1880s until the 1950s, the number of new cases filed in the U.S. Supreme Court increased linearly and consistently. After the 1950s, the case filings increased exponentially. What accounts for this incredible increase in Supreme Court litigation? This thesis explores three different theories that have been used to attempt to explain litigation increase and applies them to the Supreme Court. The institutional theory holds that the Court sends signals to potential litigants through its own actions that stimulate litigation. The social development theory relies on external factors, specifically population growth and technological development, to explain increases in litigation. The political culture theory views litigation as a form of political participation and proposes that an increase in litigation demonstrates an increased desire of citizens to participate politically. Variables were chosen to represent each theory, and the explanatory power of the theories was tested through multivariate regressions. This study concludes that the social development theory proves most powerful in explaining the increase in case fillings in the Supreme Court. This implies that litigation at the nation¿s highest court is indeed a symbol of social development in the United States.