In this paper we use novel historical data on economics and social rights from the constitutions of 201 countries and an instrument variable strategy to answer two important questions. First, do economic and social rights provisions in constitutions reduce poverty? Second, does the strength of...

In Bush v. Gore (2000), the U.S. Supreme Court stopped Florida's recount process as a violation of the Equal Protection clause, resulting in a victory for Texas Governor George W. Bush. The Court's legal reasoning did not deter the public's sense that our right to vote - at least in the sense of...