Legal Form and Economic Theory - Essay Example

The court decision is likely to have been inspired by the four theories. For instance, the small group theory asserts that students perform better while they are in a group. In addition, the rational choice theory also proved a basis for the court’s decision-making process. The theory can be used to analyze or determine factors that promote affirmative action in colleges. However, none of the approaches is sufficient for the court’s decisions making. This is because the theories are not capable of explaining a court action in isolation. For instance, the choice theory explains the court’s decision based on economic reasoning (Ogus, 1994). However, this type of reasoning is not sufficient in explaining issues that are not dependent on the economics. In Grutter v Bollinger, the US Supreme Court is likely to have applied rational choice theory to make its decision. The court’s argument was based on the significance of social diversity in economic and national prosperity. This indicates that one theory might be more relevant to a case than the other theories. For instance, theories of attitude can be used to defend affirmative action based on people’s attitudes toward foreigners.