First, interest groups become disillusioned or frustrated with the legislative process, and turn to the courts to argue and promote their cause. Subsequently, the issue at hand makes its way through the court system until the Supreme Court makes a final pronouncement on the issue. Next there is pushback against this decision, which might take the form of Congressional action, non-compliance on the part of the states, or even counter-litigation. This period of pushback usually serves to draw a great deal more attention to the issue. Ultimately, the courts will then hand down decision that continue to affirm the initial ruling, and the Supreme Court will rule again if necessary, until the issue is resolved one way or another. While not all successful social policy has followed this pattern precisely, most of the areas in which the Court has been able to successfully create policy have all followed some variation of this …show more content…
Thus, through the action of interest groups, the Court was able to enter into the process of shaping policy on this issue, and lay the groundwork for the implementation of such policies. Several subsequent and important decisions such as Cooper v. Aaron (1958) further helped to shape policy in the direction of desegregation. However, the advocacy of interest groups alone was necessary, but not sufficient for the successful creation of the Civil Rights policy of the 1950s; it was also necessary that the second condition be met in order for the policy to prove