Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance pp 1–6Cite as

State Action Doctrine and Public Administration

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:

  • 751 Accesses

Synonyms

Horizontal application of human rights; Horizontal effects of constitutional rights; Horizontality

Definitions

Horizontal:

Refers to the relationship among private individuals where the state is not directly involved

State action:

Action attributed to the government or one of its agents, whether of a legislative, executive, or judicial character

Vertical:

Refers to the relationship between a government and one of its citizens

Introduction

In most constitutional democracies, the state action doctrine is known as the problem of horizontality. In the United States, “state action” has developed as a doctrine of federal constitutional law designed to indicate the domain of action to which constitutional protections apply. If injurious action is not that of the state or one of its agents, then an aggrieved party cannot claim a violation of a constitutional right. In other countries, the question is usually phrased in terms of the extent to which constitutional guarantees have...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Bedi S (2014) The scope of formal equality of opportunity: the horizontal effect of rights in a liberal constitution. Polit Theory 42(6):716–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedi S (2015) The horizontal effect of a right to non-discrimination in employment: religious autonomy under the U.S. constitution and the constitution of South Africa. Boston Univ Law Rev 95(3):1181–1204

    Google Scholar 

  • BeVier L, Harrison J (2010) The state action principle and its critics. Va Law Rev 96(8):1767–1835

    Google Scholar 

  • Bickel AM (1962) The least dangerous branch: the Supreme Court at the bar of politics. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Black CL (1967) Forward: “state action”, equal protection, and California’s Proposition 14. Harv Law Rev 81(1):69–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715 (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chemerinsky E (1985) Rethinking state action. Northwest Univ Law Rev 80(3):503–557

    Google Scholar 

  • Chirwa DM (2006) The horizontal application of constitutional rights in a comparative perspective. Law Democr Dev 10(2):21–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883)

    Google Scholar 

  • Eskridge WN (2016) Interpreting law: a primer on how to read statutes and the constitution. Foundation Press, St. Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardbaum S (2003) The “horizontal effect” of constitutional rights. Mich Law Rev 102(3):387–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardbaum S (2006) Where the (state) action is. Int J Const Law 4(4):760–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hershkoff H (2011) Horizontality and the “spooky” doctrine of American law. Buffalo Law Rev 59(2):455–506

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelman FI (2009) The state action doctrine. In: Amar VD, Tushnet MV (eds) Global perspectives on constitutional law. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 228–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Moose Lodge, No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U.S. 163 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nimmer M (1968) The right to speak from Times to Time: first amendment theory applied to libel and misapplied to privacy. Calif Law Rev 56(4):935–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolan A (2014) Holding non-state actors to account for constitutional economic and social rights violations: experiences and lessons from South Africa and Ireland. Int J Const Law 12(1):61–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson G, Williams A (2011) Horizontal effect and the constitutional constraint. Mod Law Rev 74(6):878–910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutherglen G (2008) State action, private action, and the thirteenth amendment. Va Law Rev 94(6):1367–1406

    Google Scholar 

  • Sajó A, Uitz R (eds) (2005) The constitution in private relations: expanding constitutionalism. Eleven International Publishing, Utrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Seidman LM, Tushnet MV (1996) Remnants of belief: contemporary constitutional issues. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson MC (2008) The price of public action: constitutional doctrine and the judicial manipulation of legislative enactment costs. Yale Law J 118(1):2–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein CR (1993) The partial constitution. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunstein CR (2002) State action is always present. Chic J Int Law 3(2):465–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Tushnet M (2008) Weak courts, strong rights: judicial review and social welfare rights in comparative constitutional law. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, Southern Illinois University, 1150 Douglas Drive, Maile Code 6804, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Steven J. Macias

Authors
  1. Steven J. Macias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven J. Macias .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Macias, S.J. (2017). State Action Doctrine and Public Administration. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1188-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1188-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    State Action Doctrine and Public Administration
    Published:
    28 January 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1188-2

  2. Original

    State Action Doctrine and Public Administration
    Published:
    31 August 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1188-1

Search

Navigation