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Linking Issues to Ideology in the Supreme Court

The Takings Clause

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Lawrence Baum
Lawrence Baum*
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
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Abstract

This article probes explanations for the linkages between Supreme Court justices’ broad ideological stances and their positions in specific issue areas. The justices’ votes in decisions on the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment showed no consistent ideological pattern in the 1937–79 terms but have fallen along clear ideological lines since then. Analysis of relevant evidence indicates that this shift reflected both changes in the content of takings cases and changes in the lineup of political and social groups on takings issues. The shift and its sources suggest a need to rethink the role of the justices’ policy preferences in shaping their choices.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , Spring 2013 , pp. 89 - 114
Copyright
© 2013 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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