Department of Political Science, Columbia University
Research: politics of legal doctrine and democratic responsiveness
Residency: fall 2010

Lax studies American politics. He focuses on judicial politics, with projects on bargaining in the Supreme Court, legal doctrine on collegial courts, compliance in the judicial hierarchy, the influence of law on Supreme Court decision making, and the impact of court decisions. He also studies responsiveness to public opinion, with projects on the efficacy of majoritarian institutions, the effects of public opinion on the civil rights of gays and lesbians, and the confirmation of Supreme Court justices. Recent research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics.