Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T10:26:56.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Influence of Appointment and Retention Constituencies: Testing Strategies of Judicial Decisionmaking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Elisha Carol Savchak  and
A.J. Barghothi
Elisha Carol Savchak
Affiliation:
North Carolina State University
A.J. Barghothi
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recent studies (Brace and Hall 1990, 1995, 1997; Hall 1987, 1992; Hall and Brace 1989) have demonstrated that state supreme court judges' decisionmaking is influenced by the type of selection mechanism that put them into office. In particular, judges are found to respond to the interests of those who have placed them on the bench. We extend this line of inquiry further by testing the effect of rules governing the retention of these judges in merit systems. Do these judges respond to the subtle differences in constituency that these rules establish? We address this question with a larger dataset than that used in previous studies of decisionmaking (Brace and Hall 1995, 1997; Hall 1987, 1992), and we find overwhelming evidence of the effects of these retention rules. In fact, we also conclude that judicial decisions are more influenced by the actor charged with retaining them than the actor who placed them on the bench in the first place.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , Winter 2007 , pp. 394 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association, 2007

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

American Judicature Society. 2004. “Judicial Selection in the States.” January. http://www.ajs.org.org/js (October 10, 2004).Google Scholar
Aspin, Larry T. 1999. “Trends in Judicial Retention Elections, 1964–1998.” Judicature 83:79–81.Google Scholar
Aspin, Larry T., and Hall, William K.. 1994. “Retention Elections and Judicial Behavior.” Judicature 77:306–15.Google Scholar
Bartels, Larry M. 1991. “Constituency Opinion and Congressional Policy Making: The Reagan Defense Buildup.” American Political Science Review 85:457–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Lawrence. 1997. The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Lawrence. 2001. American Courts: Process and Policy. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russell L.. 1998. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960–93.” American Journal of Political Science 42:327–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1990. “Neo-Institutionalism and Dissent in State Supreme Courts.” Journal of Politics 52:54–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1995. “Studying Courts Comparatively: The View from the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 48:5–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1997. “The Interplay of Preferences, Case Facts, Context, and Rules in the Politics of Judicial Choice.” Journal of Politics 59:1206–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, Langer, Laura, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2000. “Measuring the Preferences of State Supreme Court Judges.” Journal of Politics 62:387–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Spill, Rorie L.. 2004. “Moving Up the Judicial Ladder: The Nomination of State Supreme Court Justices to the Federal Courts.” American Politics Research 32:198–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carp, Robert A., and Rowland, C.K.. 1983. Policymaking and Politics in the Federal District Courts. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar
Champagne, Anthony, and Haydel, Judith. 1993. Judicial Reform in the States. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Clausen, Aage R. 1973. How Congressmen Decide: A Policy Focus. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Elling, Richard C. 1982. “Ideological Change in the U.S. Senate: Time and Electoral Responsiveness.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 7:75–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmert, Craig F. 1992. “An Integrated Case-Related Model of Judicial Decision Making: Explaining Supreme Court Decisions in Judicial Review Cases.” Journal of Politics 45:543–52.Google Scholar
Epstein, Lee, and Knight, Jack. 1998. The Choices Justices Make. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert S. 1978. “Constituency Opinion and Congressional Behavior: A Reexamination of the Miller-Stokes Representation Data.” American Journal of Political Science 22:511–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fiorina, Morris P. 1974. Representatives, Roll Calls, and Constituencies. Lexington, MA: Heath.Google Scholar
Friedrich, Robert J. 1982. “In Defense of Multiplicative Terms in Multiple Regression Equations.” American Journal of Political Science 26:797–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garwood, W. St. John. 1960. “Breakfast Observations on Selection of Judges.” Journal of the American Judicature Society 44:134–41.Google Scholar
Gershenson, Harry. 1960. “Experience in Missouri with Judicial Selection under the Non-Partisan Plan.” American Bar Association Journal 46:287–9.Google Scholar
Gideon v. Wainwright. 1963. 372 U.S. 335.Google Scholar
Click, Henry R., and Emmert, Craig F.. 1987. “Selection Systems and Judicial Characteristics: The Recruitment of State Supreme Court Judges.” Judicature 70:228–35.Google Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 1987. “Constituent Influences in State Supreme Courts: Conceptual Notes and a Case Study.” Journal of Politics 49:1117–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 1992. “Electoral Politics and Strategic Voting in State Supreme Courts.” Journal of Politics 54:427–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 1995. “Justices as Representatives: Elections and Judicial Politics in the American States.” American Politics Quarterly 23:485–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “State Supreme Courts in American Democracy: Probing the Myths of Judicial Reform.” American Political Science Review 95:315–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann, and Brace, Paul. 1989. “Order in the Courts: A Neo-Institutional Approach to Judicial Consensus.” Western Political Quarterly 42:391–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann, and Brace, Paul. 1992. “Toward an Integrated Model of Judicial Voting Behavior.” American Politics Quarterly 20:147–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, Gregory A., and Gordon, Sanford C.. 2004. “Accountability and Coercion: Is Justice Blind When It Runs for Office?” American Journal of Political Science 48:247–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingdon, John W. 1981. Congressmen's Voting Decisions. 2nd ed. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Knight, Jack, and Epstein, Lee. 1996. “The Norm of Stare Decisis.” American Journal of Political Science 40:1018–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langer, Laura. 2002. Judicial Review in State Supreme Courts: A Comparative Study. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Long, J. Scott. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Maltzman, Forrest, Spriggs, James F. II, and Wahlbeck, Paul J.. 2000. Crafting Law on the Supreme Court. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Manin, Bernard, Przeworski, Adam, and Stokes, Susan C.. 1999. “Elections and Representation.” In Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. Przeworski, Adam, Stokes, Susan C., and Manin, Bernard. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mapp v. Ohio. 1961. 367 U.S. 643.Google Scholar
Mayhew, David H. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
McIver, John P., Erikson, Robert S., and Wright, Gerald C.. 2001. “Public Opinion and Public Policy in Temporal Perspective: A View from the States.” Presented at the First Annual State Politics and Policy Conference, College Station, Texas.Google Scholar
Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald. 1963. “Constituency Influence in Congress.” American Political Science Review 57:45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, Walter E. 1964. Elements of Judicial Strategy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
In re Oliver. 1948. 333 U.S. 257.Google Scholar
Rohde, David W., and Spaeth, Harold J.. 1976. Supreme Court Decisionmaking. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A. 1984. “Predicting Supreme Court Cases Probabilitistically: Search and Seizures Cases, 1962–1981.” American Political Science Review 78:891–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., and Cover, Albert D.. 1989. “Ideological Values and Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices.” American Political Science Review 83:557–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., and Spaeth, Harold J.. 1993. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., and Spaeth, Harold J.. 2002. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., Spaeth, Harold J., and Benesh, Sara C.. 2006. The Supreme Court in the American Legal System. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sheldon, Charles H., and Maule, Linda S.. 1997. Choosing Justices: The Recruitment of State and Federal Judges. Pullman, WA: Washington State University Press.Google Scholar
Songer, Donald R., and Davis, Sue. 1990. “The Impact of Party and Region on Voting Decisions in the United States Courts of Appeals, 1955–1986.” Western Political Quarterly 43:317–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spaeth, Harold J. 1999. United States Supreme Court Judicial Database, 1953–1997 Terms [Computer file]. 9th ed. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, Department of Political Science [producer], 1998. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor].Google Scholar
Stimson, James A., MacKuen, Michael B., and Erikson, Robert S.. 1995. “Dynamic Representation.” American Political Science Review 89:543–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stumpf, Harry P. 1988. American Judicial Politics. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Stumpf, Harry P., and Culver, John H.. 1992. The Politics of State Courts. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Sutro, John A. 1966. “Merits of the Merit Plan for Judicial Selection.” Judicature 51:128–31.Google Scholar
Tarr, Alan G. 2003. “Rethinking the Selection of State Supreme Court Justices.” Williamette Law Review 39:1445–70.Google Scholar
Tate, C. Neal. 1981. “Personal Attribute Models of Voting Behavior of United States Supreme Court Justices: Liberalism in Civil Liberties and Economic Decisions, 1946–1978.” American Political Science Review 75:355–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teaford, Jon C. 2002. The Rise of the States: Evolution of American State Government. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, Martin. 1985. “Election Proximity and Senatorial Roll Call Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 29:96–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winters, Glenn R. 1973. “The Merit Plan for Judicial Selection and Tenure—Its Historical Development.” In Selected Readings: Judicial Selection and Tenure, ed. Winters, Glenn R.. Chicago, IL: American Judicature Society.Google Scholar
Wolf v. Colorado. 1949. 338 U.S. 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Gerald C Jr., and Berkman, Michael B.. 1986. “Candidates and Policies in United States Senate Elections.” American Political Science Review 80:567–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar