Keepers of the Covenant or Platonic Guardians? Decision Making on the U.S. Supreme Court
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2007
Publication Title
American Politics Research
DOI
10.1177/1532673X06298927
ISSN
1532-673X
Abstract
How do the justices of the Supreme Court make their decisions? How does the Supreme Court of the United States make its decisions? The answer to these questions may not be the same. In studying judicial decision making, there has been a disconnection between individual and institutional levels of analysis. Lifetime tenure insulates individual justices and permits them to act on their substantive preferences. At the same time, the Court lacks the “sword and purse” and must rely on the other branches to fund or implement its directives. This study develops an integrative model to explain Supreme Court decision making. Using constitutional civil liberties and civil rights cases in the 1953 to 2000 period, conditions favorable to the attitudinal model, we find that institutional decision making is a function of attitudinal, strategic, and legal factors.
Recommended Citation
Pacelle, Richard L. Jr., Bryan Marshall, Brett W. Curry.
2007.
"Keepers of the Covenant or Platonic Guardians? Decision Making on the U.S. Supreme Court."
American Politics Research, 35 (5): 694-725: Sage Publications.
doi: 10.1177/1532673X06298927 source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1532673X06298927
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/poli-sci-facpubs/131
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