The courts are those of Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, and South Carolina. The analysis is based on the premise that to understand court policymaking, the type of opportunities to make policy that are presented to the court must be understood. The basic thesis in terms of policymaking opportunities (the dependent variable) is that socioeconomic complexity should be associated with a high frequency of policymaking opportunities. Other variables thought to be positively associated with policymaking opportunities are legal culture, political competition, and the level of government activity. Also, political culture should act as an intervening variable. A total of 1,026 supreme court cases were analyzed for the 6 sample States. Findings indicate that none of the hypothesized relationships exist, and that the legal profession rather than socioeconomic or political variables influences the flow of policymaking opportunities into the State appellate courts. Further, an analysis of court resolution of policymaking opportunities hypothesizes that a traditional political culture is associated with policy maintenance, while a nontraditional political culture is associated with policymaking. Findings show no relationship between policymaking, rather than the attitude toward the litigant or type of case, as previous literature suggests. Chapter notes, charts, and tables are included, and citations for cases used are appended. Over 100 references are cited, including books, articles, legal periodicals, court cases, and unpublished material. (Author abstract modified)