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Public Support for Judicial Philosophies: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Christopher N. Krewson  and
Ryan J. Owens
Christopher N. Krewson*
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, USA
Ryan J. Owens
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
*
Contact the corresponding author, Christopher N. Krewson, at [email protected].
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Abstract

We examine whether the public evaluates Supreme Court nominees on the basis of judicial philosophies when presented with a description of those philosophies. Employing a conjoint experiment, we find that the public will evaluate nominees’ judicial philosophies as well as the nominees’ partisanship, ideology, and qualifications. We also discover significant differences between Republicans and Democrats. These results have important implications for the future of judicial nominations, framing, and public support for the judiciary.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Spring 2021 , pp. 89 - 110
Copyright
© 2021 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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Footnotes

Justin Wedeking recused himself from this manuscript because of a conflict of interest with one of the authors and appointed an Editorial Board member—Michael Zilis—as editor.

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