Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T10:47:42.982Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Should We Elect the US Supreme Court?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2009

Mariah Zeisberg
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Extensive political science research reveals that the decisions of the US Supreme Court are deeply political. And both advocates and critics of judicial elections concede that partisan elections are a democratic method of judicial selection. Does the value of democratic representation mean that US Supreme Court Justices should be selected through partisan elections? I argue not. Partisan judicial elections are actually far poorer institutional mechanisms for capturing the judgment of the people on legal matters than has been recognized. The role of parties in structuring a campaign distorts the deliberative environment surrounding judicial elections, creating significant barriers to voters expressing a judgment on matters of legal meaning. The kind of distortion is best understood through reference to a processual criterion of deliberative democracy, which provides a fitting normative template to ground theoretical inquiry into the reason-giving possibilities of existing democratic institutions and practices. Hence, answering why the US Supreme Court should not be elected on democratic grounds also reveals new insights about the role of parties in sustaining (or subverting) deliberative democratic ideals.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerman, Bruce A. 1991. We the People. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Alexander, Larry. 2006. What is the problem with judicial review? Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy 31 (1): 113.Google Scholar
Applbaum, Arthur Isak. 1999. Ethics for Adversaries: The Morality of Roles in Public and Professional Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Aspin, Larry. 1999. Trends in judicial retention elections, 1964–1998. Judicature 83 (2): 7981.Google Scholar
Aspin, Larry T., and Hall, William K.. 1987. The friends and neighbors effect in judicial retention elections. Western Political Quarterly 40 (4): 703–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Averill, Lawrence H. Jr. 1995. Observations on the Wyoming experience with merit selection of judges: A model for Arkansas. University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal 17 (1): 281.Google Scholar
Bartels, Larry. 1996. Uninformed votes: Information effects in presidential elections. American Journal of Political Science 40 (1): 194230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Lawrence. 1987. Information and party voting in “semipartisan” judicial elections. Political Behavior 9 (1): 6274.Google Scholar
Baum, Lawrence. 2003. Judicial elections and judicial independence: The voter's perspective. Ohio State Law Journal 64 (1): 1341.Google Scholar
Beechen, Paul D. 1974. Can judicial elections express the people's choice?” Judicature 57 (1): 242.Google Scholar
Beitz, Charles. 2002. A theory of political fairness. In Democracy, ed. Estlund, David. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Bentley, Arthur F. 1908. The Process of Government: A Study of Social Pressures. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Berelson, Bernard, Lazarsfeld, Paul, and McPhee, William. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bessette, Joseph M. 1994. The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W., and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2009. In Defense of Judicial Elections. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brandwein, Pamela. 2010. The Supreme Court, State Action, and Civil Rights: Rethinking the Judicial Settlement of Reconstruction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ForthcomingGoogle Scholar
Brettschneider, Corey. 2007. Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self-Government. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bright, Stephen B., and Keenan, Patrick J.. 1995. Judges and the politics of death: Deciding between the Bill of Rights and the next election in capital cases. B.U.L. Review 75: 760.Google Scholar
BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore. 517 U.S. 559 (1996)Google Scholar
Brown, Beriah. 1847. Text of the Judiciary Committee Report, Journal of the Convention to form a Constitution for the State of Wisconsin: Begun and Held at Madison, on the Fifth Day of October, 1846.Google Scholar
Budge, Ian. 2000. Deliberative democracy versus direct democracy—plus political parties! In Democratic Innovation, ed. Saward, Michael. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Burton, Stephen J. 1992. Judging in Good Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bush v. Gore. 531 U.S. 98 (2000)Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. The American Voter. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.Google Scholar
Carter, Stephen. 1994. The Confirmation Mess: Cleaning Up the Federal Appointments Process. New York: BasicBooks.Google Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 1996. The Rule of the Many. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Josua. 1996. Procedure and substance in deliberative democracy. In Democracy and Difference: Changing Boundaries of the Political, ed. Benhabib, Seyla. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Conover, Pamela Johnston, and Feldman, Stanley. 1989. Candidate perception in an ambiguous world: Campaigns, cues, and inference processes. American Journal of Political Science 33: 912–40.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip. 1964. The nature of belief systems in mass publics. In Ideology and Discontent, ed. Apter, David E.. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip. 1970. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Continuation of a dialogue. In The Quantitative Analysis of Social Problems, ed. Tufte, Edward R.. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Croley, Steven P. 1995. The majoritarian difficulty: Elective judiciaries and the rule of law. University of Chicago Law Review 62 (2): 689.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert. 1989. Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert. 1957. Decision making in a democracy: The Supreme Court as a national policy-maker. Journal of Public Law 6 (1): 279295.Google Scholar
De Muniz, Paul J. 2004. Eroding the public's confidence in judicial impartiality: First Amendment federal jurisprudence and special interest financing of judicial campaigns.” Albany Law Review 67: 763.Google Scholar
Dimino, Michael R. 2004. The futile quest for a system of judicial “merit” selection. Albany Law Review 67: 803.Google Scholar
Dovi, Suzanne. 2007. The Good Representative. Madden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Dubois, Philip L. 1979a. Voter turnout in state judicial elections: An analysis of the tail on the electoral kite. Journal of Politics 41: 865–87.Google Scholar
Dubois, Philip L. 1979b. The significance of voting cues in state Supreme Court elections. Law and Society Review 13: 757–79.Google Scholar
Dubois, Philip L. 1980. From Ballot to Bench: Judicial Elections and the Quest for Accountability. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Dunn, Patrick Winston. 2004. Judicial selection and the states: A critical study with proposals for reform. Hofstra Law Review 4: 285304.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1978. Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1999. Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 1998. Deliberation and constitution making. In Deliberative Democracy, ed. Elster, Jon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Epstein, Lee, Martin, Andrew D., Segal, Jeffrey A., and Westerland, Chad. 2007. The judicial common space. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 23: 303–25Google Scholar
Estlund, David. 2008. Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Franklin, Charles H. 2002. Behavioral factors affecting judicial independence. In Judicial Independence at the Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Approach, ed. Burbank, Stephen B. and Friedman, Barry. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Geyh, Charles Gardner. 2003. Why judicial elections stink. Ohio State Law Journal 64: 43.Google Scholar
Gibson, James L. 2008. Challenges to the impartiality of state Supreme Courts: Legitimacy theory and “new-style” judicial campaigns. American Political Science Review 102 (1): 5975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillman, Howard. 1993. The Constitution Besieged. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Gillman, Howard. 2001. The Votes that Counted: How the Court Decided the 2000 Presidential Election. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gonzalez v. Raich (previously Ashcroft v. Raich). 545 U.S. 1 (2005).Google Scholar
Graber, Mark A. 1991. Transforming Free Speech: The Ambiguous Legacy of Civil Libertarianism. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graglia, Lino A. 2004. Restrictions on judicial election campaign speech: Silencing criticism of liberal activism. Social Philosophy and Policy 21: 148–76.Google Scholar
Griffin, Kenyon N., and Horan, Michael J.. 1979. Merit retention election: What influences the voters? Judicature 63 (1): 7888.Google Scholar
Gutmann, Amy, and Thompson, Dennis. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Kermit. 1984. Progressive reform and the decline of democratic accountability: The popular election of state Supreme Court judges, 1850–1920. American Bar Foundation Research Journal 9: 345–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. State Supreme Courts in American democracy: Probing the myths of judicial reform. American Political Science Review 95 (2): 315330.Google Scholar
Hardin, Russell. 1993. “Public choice versus democracy. In The Idea of Democracy, ed. Copp, David, Hampton, Jean, and Roemer, John. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hill v. Colorado. 530 U.S. 703 (2000).Google Scholar
Hinckley, Barbara, Hofstetter, Richard, and Kessel, John. 1974. Information and the vote: A comparative election study. American Politics Quarterly 2: 131–58.Google Scholar
Ifill, Sherrilyn A. 2004–2005. Through the lens of diversity: The fight for judicial elections after Republican Party of Minnesota v. White. Michigan Journal of Race & Law 10: 55.Google Scholar
Johnson, Charles A., Shaefer, Roger C., and McKnight, R. Neal. 1955. How much do voters know or care about judicial candidates? Judicature 38: 141.Google Scholar
Johnson, Charles A., Shaefer, Roger C., and McKnight, R. Neal. 1978. The salience of judicial candidates and elections. Social Science Quarterly 49: 371–78.Google Scholar
Johnson, Jim. 2006. Political parties and deliberative democracy? In Handbook of Party Politics, ed. Katz, Richard S. and Crotty, William. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Keck, Thomas M. 2007. Party, policy, or duty: Why does the Supreme Court invalidate federal statutes? American Political Science Review 101 (2): 321–38.Google Scholar
Kelley, Donald E. 1971. Selection and tenure in Colorado. Judicature 55: 155.Google Scholar
Key, V.O. Jr. 1966. The Responsible Electorate: Rationality in Presidential Voting. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Klots, Allen T. 1955. The selection of judges and the short ballot. Journal of the American Judicature Society 38: 134–43.Google Scholar
Kuklinski, James H., Quirk, Paul J., Jerit, Jennifer, and Rich, Robert F.. 2001. The political environment and citizen competence. American Journal of Political Science 45: 410–24Google Scholar
Lau, Richard R., and Redlawsk, David P.. 2001. Advantages and disadvantages of cognitive heuristics in political decision making. American Journal of Political Science 45: 951–71.Google Scholar
Lazersfeld, Paul, Berelson, Bernard, and Gaudet, Hazel. 1968. The People's Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His Mind in a Presidential Campaign. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, Arendt. 1997. Democracy's unresolved dilemma. American Political Science Review 91 (1): 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lippmann, Walter. 1970. The Phantom Public. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co.Google Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1992. “Busy Voters, Agenda Control, and the Power of Information.” The American Political Science Review 86: 390403.Google Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1994. Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: Information and voting behavior in California insurance reform elections. American Political Science Review 88 (1): 6376.Google Scholar
Madsen v. Women's Health Center. 512 U.S. 753 (1994).Google Scholar
Manin, Bernard. 1987. On legitimacy and democratic deliberation. Political Theory 15: 338–68.Google Scholar
Miller, Joanne M., and Krosnick, Jon A.. 1998. The impact of candidate name order on election outcomes. Public Opinion Quarterly 62 (3): 291330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, Benhamin I., and Shapiro, Robert Y.. 1992. The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans' Policy Preferences. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Peretti, Terri Jennings. 2001. In Defense of a Political Court. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Pitkin, Hanna Fenichel. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1997. Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Popkin, Samuel L. 1991. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Pozen, David E. 2008. The irony of judicial elections. Columbia Law Review 108 (March): 101–63.Google Scholar
Rahn, Wendy M. 1993. The role of partisan stereotypes in information processing about political candidates. American Journal of Political Science 37 (May): 472–96.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 1997. The idea of public reason revisited. University of Chicago Law Review 64 (3): 765807.Google Scholar
Redlawsk, David P. 2001. Advantages and disadvantages of cognitive heuristics in political decision making. American Journal of Political Science 45 (4): 951971.Google Scholar
Rosenblum, Nancy. 2005. “Partisanship and Independence: On the Side of Angels” (unpublished manuscript on file with author).Google Scholar
Rosenblum, Nancy. 2008. On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ruckman, P.S. Jr. 1993. The Supreme Court, critical nominations, and the Senate confirmation process. Journal of Politics 55: 3.Google Scholar
Sabl, Andrew. 2002. Ruling Passions: Political Offices and Democratic Ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E.E. 1975. The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.Google Scholar
Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York. 519 U.S. 357 (1997).Google Scholar
Schultz, David A. 2005. Judicial selection in Minnesota: Options after Republican Party v. White. Bench & Bar of Minnesota 62: 10.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, Joseph. 1950. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy 3d ed. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey Allan, and Spaeth, Harold. 1993. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey Allan, and Spaeth, Harold. 2002. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sheldon, Charles H., and Maule, Linda S.. 1997. Choosing Justice: The Recruitment of State and Federal Judges. Pullman, WA: WSU Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M. 1993. The new look in public opinion research. In Political Science: The State of the Discipline II, ed. Finifter, Ada W.. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul, Brody, Richard, and Tetlock, Phillip. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Solum, Lawrence B. 2005. Judicial selection: Ideology versus character. Cardozo Law Review 26: 659.Google Scholar
Spitz, Elaine. 1984. Majority Rule. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2000. Uncontested seats in state legislative elections. Legislative Studies Quarterly 25 (1): 131–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart v. Blackwell, 444 F.3d 843 (6th Cir. 2006), vacated, No. 05–3044 (6th Cir. July 21, 2006).Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2002. Does the Constitution enact the Republican Party platform? Beyond Bush v. Gore. In Bush v. Gore: The Question of Legitimacy, ed. Ackerman, Bruce. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Dennis F. 1987. Political Ethics and Public Office. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Tulis, Jeffrey K. 2003. Deliberation between institutions. In Debating Deliberative Democracy, ed. Fishkin, James S. and Laslett, Peter. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Urbinati, Nadia. 2006. Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremey. 1999. Law and Disagreement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar