Thomas M. Keck

Associate Professor, Political Science

Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics

Degree

Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1999

Specialties

Public law and judicial politics

Personal Website

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/tmkeck/

Publications

The Most Activist Supreme Court in History: The Road to Modern Judicial Conservatism (University of Chicago Press, 2004).

“Party, Policy, or Duty: Why Does the Supreme Court Invalidate Federal Statutes?” American Political Science Review 101:2 (May 2007): 321-338.

“Beyond Backlash: Assessing the Impact of Judicial Decisions on LGBT Rights.” Law and Society Review 43:1 (March 2009): 151-185.

Courses

The Supreme Court in American Politics (PSC 316)
Constitutional Law I (PSC 324)
Constitutional Law II (PSC 325)
Sexuality and the Law (PSC/QSX 384)
American Constitutional Development (PSC 711)

Research Interests

Professor Keck’s research focuses on the Supreme Court, American constitutional development, and the use of legal strategies by movements for social change.

Research Projects

With fellowship support from the American Philosophical Society, Professor Keck is currently writing a book that will examine the courts and the culture wars during the Clinton and Bush eras. Focusing on abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, and gun rights, Keck will argue that judicial institutions have had a substantial impact on policy outcomes in all four cases and that this judicial role has, on balance, improved the democratic responsiveness of the American political system.