Customer Reviews

Trial Courts as Organizations

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Ostrom et al try to study the organizational culture of courts applying business-school methodologies about work environments and management. He measures courts in Florida, Minnesota, and California according to two variables: sociability and solidarity. He then classifies them as 1) communal, 2) networked, 3) autonomous, or 4) hierarchical. The results show not just that different courts have different work cultures, but also that this has results for managerial effectiveness. One of the more interesting results is that judicial leadership really does matter in making courts run smoothly.

I do question the reliability of survey data for this type of study - after all, perceptions of organizational efficiency are subjective. However, this book does fill an important gap in the study of public institutions. This book can be read fairly quickly (I finished it in two hours), and it is definitely worth a read if you are interested in courts or the rule of law.