| One of the most important discoveries in judicial scholarship in recent years is the widespread, even global, phenomenon of the "expansion of judicial power" (Tate and Vallinder 1995). However, the dearth of valid measures has prevented scholars from being able to explain the "judicialization of politics" in a systematic manner. Within the context of the U.S. Supreme Court, I attempt to investigate one aspect of the judicialization of politics: the expansion of the breadth of issues on the agenda. I test one primary hypothesis: the Supreme Court is able to summon issues onto its agenda by providing signals to policy entrepreneurs of increased interest in a particular policy area. Findings suggest that policy minded litigants and the Supreme Court possess a symbiotic relationship that results in maximizing the policy-making capacity of the Supreme Court's agenda. |
