In the last several years the debate over the litigiousness of the American population has continued unabated. On one side of the controversy are the observers, scholars, and policymakers who cite evidence of apparently ever increasing demands on America's civil justice system, particularly in the federal courts. On the other side are writers who cite historical, comparative, and other analyses that suggest that use of the litigation alternative by Americans does not differ greatly either from past patterns or from patterns of behavior in other developed countries. Drawing on a number of existing data sets, Dr. Kritzer will carry out a comparative analysis (United States and England) of the propensity to sue. The analytic framework will involve decomposing "propensity to sue" into a sequence of stages and transitions, with each of the transitions involving the overcoming of a particular type of barrier (i.e., the recognition barrier, the attribution barrier, the confrontation barrier, and the litigation barrier). For each stage of the analysis, a variety of factors will be considered--structural factors, cultural factors, informational factors, resource factors, predisposition factors, and problem-specific factors. Existing data sets (three from the U.S. and four from England) dealing with consumer problems and compensation for injury will be used supplemented by semi-structured interviews carried out in England. The analysis will focus on the relative influence of the factors on the production of grievances (from problems), claims (from grievances), and lawsuits (from unsatisfied grievances). The basic question of people's propensity to sue is an important one. At its core, propensity to sue is a fundamental component of the citizenry's attitude toward the legal system and the role that that system is seen to play in the larger socio- political system. Legal mobilization is a central component of political behavior that has been largely neglected by political scientists and only recently explored empirically and systematically by students of the legal system. The results of this research should considerably advance understanding of litigation processes and trends.
