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State Supreme Courts in American Democracy: Probing the Myths of Judicial Reform

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  • Hall, Melinda Gann

Abstract

I address the controversy over how judges should be selected by analyzing the electoral fortunes of incumbents on supreme courts from 1980 through 1995 in the 38 states using elections to staff the bench. Court reformers argue that partisan elections fail to evidence accountability, while nonpartisan and retention elections promote independence. Thus, issue-related or candidate-related forces should not be important in partisan elections, and external political conditions should not be important in nonpartisan and retention elections. Results indicate that reformers underestimated the extent to which partisan elections have a tangible substantive component and overestimated the extent to which nonpartisan and retention races are insulated from partisan politics and other contextual forces. On these two fundamental issues, arguments of reformers fail. Moreover, the extraordinary variations across systems and over time in how well incumbents fare with voters, which bear directly upon the representative nature of elected courts, merit further explanation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hall, Melinda Gann, 2001. "State Supreme Courts in American Democracy: Probing the Myths of Judicial Reform," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(2), pages 315-330, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:95:y:2001:i:02:p:315-330_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Timothy Besley, 2013. "Implementation of Anti-Discrimination Policy: Does Judicial Selection Matter?," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 212-251.
    2. Francesco Drago & Roberto Galbiati & Francesco Sobbrio, 2020. "The Political Cost of Being Soft on Crime: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 3305-3336.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/12b1pd86do8s6p35b4jqn66t0p is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/12b1pd86do8s6p35b4jqn66t0p is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Francesco Drago & Roberto Galbiati & Francesco Sobbrio, 2020. "The Political Cost of Being Soft on Crime: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 3305-3336.
    6. James M. Snyder & David Stromberg & Claire S.H. Lim, 2010. "Measuring Media Influence on U.S. State Courts," 2010 Meeting Papers 1193, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Martin Andrew D. & Hazelton Morgan L.W., 2012. "What Political Science Can Contribute to the Study of Law," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(2), pages 511-529, October.
    8. Claire S.H. Lim & James M. Snyder, Jr., 2012. "Elections and the Quality of Public Officials: Evidence from U.S. State Courts," NBER Working Papers 18355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Lim, Claire S.H. & Snyder, James M., 2015. "Is more information always better? Party cues and candidate quality in U.S. judicial elections," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 107-123.
    10. Sean Gailmard & Jeffery A. Jenkins, 2009. "Agency Problems, the 17th Amendment, and Representation in the Senate," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 324-342, April.
    11. Melinda Gann Hall & Chris W. Bonneau, 2008. "Mobilizing Interest: The Effects of Money on Citizen Participation in State Supreme Court Elections," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 457-470, July.
    12. Herbert M. Kritzer, 2011. "Competitiveness in State Supreme Court Elections, 1946–2009," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(2), pages 237-259, June.
    13. James E. Alt & David D. Lassen, 2008. "Political And Judicial Checks On Corruption: Evidence From American State Governments," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 33-61, March.
    14. Brian Frederick & Matthew J. Streb, 2008. "Women Running for Judge: The Impact of Sex on Candidate Success in State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(4), pages 937-954, December.
    15. Brent D. Boyea, 2010. "Does Seniority Matter? The Conditional Influence of State Methods of Judicial Retention," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 209-227, March.
    16. Tim Besley & Abigail Payne, 2003. "Judicial accountability and economic policy outcomes: evidence from employment discrimination charges," IFS Working Papers W03/11, Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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