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Explaining Judicial Diversity: The Differential Ability of Women and Minorities to Attain Seats on State Supreme and Appellate Courts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Mark S. Hurwitz  and
Drew Noble Lanier
Mark S. Hurwitz
Affiliation:
University at Buffalo, SUNY
Drew Noble Lanier
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
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Abstract

Representation in political institutions, including the judiciary, is an important consideration for both political scientists and citizens. What factors systematically influence diversity among judges? In particular, does the method of selection affect the relative success of political minorities in attaining a seat on the bench? The answers to these questions have substantial normative and theoretical implications. We examine judges on all state supreme and intermediate appellate courts in 1985 and 1999 to assess the influence of various structural, political, and demographic factors on judicial diversity. We demonstrate that the ability of political minorities to attain a place in the judiciary is not solely a function of any single factor. Instead, their success is influenced by a multifaceted combination of factors contingent on time and the level of the court, and these influences differ for women and for minorities.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , Winter 2003 , pp. 329 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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