Udi Sommer

Original Sin A Cross-National Study of the Legality of Homosexual Acts

This article examines the legality of homosexual acts quantitatively in a cross-national perspective with a large sample of countries from 1972 to 2002. Employing path dependence as its theoretical framework, this work explains how political, economic, and legal institutions at the domestic and international levels affect the lives of individual citizens. The rights and privileges of individuals, the findings of this study indicate, are determined by a wide array of variables, including legal origin, economic development, religion, democratization, and the position of the nation in the international community. The authors use recently released cross-national data concerning decriminalization of homosexual intercourse, economic conditions, and political institutions. A generalized estimating equation analyzes decriminalization of homosexual acts. A Cox proportional hazards model examines how long it takes to introduce this legal reform. Last, this study also offers some important lessons about civil rights and liberties more generally.

Does faith limit immorality? The politics of religion and corruption

Critically considering scholarship relating religiosity to ethical behaviour, we contend that religion is systematically related to levels of corruption, and that the nature of this relationship is contingent on the presence of democratic institutions. In democracies, where political institutions are designed to inhibit corrupt conduct, the morality provided by religion is related to attenuated corruption. Conversely, in systems lacking democratic institutions, moral behaviour is not tantamount to staying away from corrupt ways. Accordingly, in non-democratic contexts, religion would not be associated with decreased corruption. Time-series cross-sectional analyses of aggregate data for 129 countries for 12 years, as well as individual level analyses of data from the World Values Surveys, strongly corroborate the predictions of our theory. The correlation of religion with reduced corruption is conditional on the extent to which political institutions are democratic.

Globalization, Threat and Religious Freedom

While arguably central to the human experience, religion is a largely understudied component of social life and of politics. The comparative literature on religion and politics is limited in scope, and offers mostly descriptions of trends. We know, for example, that restrictions on freedom of religion are on the rise worldwide. In our theoretical framework, the recently higher universal levels of globalization combine with other sources of threat to account for the trend away from religious freedom. As threat to the majority religion increases, due to globalization and an increasing number of minority religions, freedom of religion is on the decline. Data for two decades from 147 nations are used to test hypotheses. Time-series cross-sectional and mediation models estimated at different levels of analysis with data from two independent sources confirm that threat systematically accounts for changes in religious freedom, with globalization playing a key role.

A Cross-National Analysis of the Guarantees of Rights

What are the predictors of rights guarantees at the level of individual countries? We examine this question within the context of what factors lead certain countries, but not others, to have legislation prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace between 1972 and 2002. In the theoretical framework, a combination of domestic forces (past inclusion of minorities, culture, and democratic conditions) and global trends (regulation by supranational bodies and globalization) predict guarantees of rights. To test the theory, generalized estimating equation time-series cross-sectional analyses are performed on data from 161 countries. The results, which are robust to changes in model specification and alternative measurement schemes, confirm our key hypotheses. We conclude by discussing the implications of this research for the study of rights generally.

Setting the Agenda of the United States Supreme Court? Organized Interests and the Decision to File an Amicus Curiae Brief at Cert

Past research indicates that amicus briefs influence the Supreme Courts decision to issue a writ of certiorari; however, we know relatively little about the reasons that lead interest groups to file such briefs. We seek to explain how organized interests make decisions about whether or not to file amicus curiae briefs during case selection, and we examine the factors that influence the total number of amicus briefs filed in each case. We find that certain factors influence amicus activity during this early stage of decision making, including the presence of the solicitor general as amicus curiae, case salience, and the issue areas involved in litigation.

Crusades against Corruption and Institutionally-induced Strategies in the Israeli Supreme Court

In his last public address prior to departure, the recently retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice, Mishael Cheshin, emphasized that the prevention of corruption was the single most important thing he would like to leave as his legacy. In more than one case, Cheshin did not shy from acting upon this principle. A prime example is The Movement for Quality Government in Israel v. PM Sharon. In October 2003 the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) delivered a lengthy opinion concerning the appointment of Mr Tzahi Hanegbi, to the position of minister of public security in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s recently formed cabinet. Despite petitioners’ contentions and the criminal proceedings against Hanegbi, respondents (Prime Minister Sharon, the attorney-general and Mr. Hanegbi) stressed Hanegbi’s proven executive skills and failed to see how this appointment was repugnant to the rule prohibiting a conflict of interests. Seven months prior to the final decision, in March 2003, the case was heard by a three-justice panel. This panel, which consisted of Justices Rivlin, Cheshin and Beinisch, applied for expansion in August of that year. An expanded seven-justice panel heard oral arguments in late August and on 9 October Justice Rivlin delivered the majority opinion. Interestingly, a majority of the original panel dissented from the decision of the expanded panel.

Women, Demography, and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy

Where connections between demography and politics are examined in the literature, it is largely in the context of the effects of male aspects of demography on phenomena such as political violence. This project aims to place the study of demographic variables’ influence on politics, particularly on democracy, squarely within the scope of political and social sciences, and to focus on the effects of woman-related demographics—namely, fertility rate. I test the hypothesis that demographic variables—female-related predictors, in particular—have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing countries over time, this study finds a growth in democracy when fertility rates decline. In the theoretical framework developed, it is family structure as well as the economic and political status of women that account for this change at the macro and micro levels. Findings based on data for more than 140 countries over three decades are robust when controlling not only for alternative effects but also for reverse causality and data limitations.

Representative Appointments: The Effect of Women's Groups in Contentious Supreme Court Confirmations

A large share of decision makers in modern democratic systems are appointed. To what degree do those officials represent constituents? Representation in this case is determined in part by the extent to which constituents influence the appointment process. This article examines the influence of womens organized interests and constituency preferences on Supreme Court confirmation votes. With topics such as sexual harassment, privacy, and Roe v. Wade looming large, gender politics became a salient issue during confirmation battles in the late 1980s and early 1990s and has remained so since. Original data from the contentious appointments of Justices David Souter, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor are analyzed. Results confirm that womens organized interests and popular preferences have an impact on contentious nominations. Implications for popular influences on appointments and for representation in government writ large are discussed.

Women, Demography and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy

Where connections between demography and politics are examined in the literature, it is largely in the context of the effects of male aspects of demography on phenomena such as political violence. This project aims to place the study of demographic variables’ influence on politics, particularly on democracy, squarely within the scope of political and social sciences—and—to focus on the effects of woman-related demographics, namely fertility rates. I test the hypothesis that demographic variables—female-related predictors in particular—have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing different countries over time, when fertility rates decline, we observe a growth in democracy. In the theoretical framework developed, it is family structure, and the economic and political status of women that account for this change at the macro and micro levels. Findings based on data for over 140 countries over 3 decades are robust when controlling not only for alternative effects, but also for reverse causality and data limitations.