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Confirmation Politics and The Legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court: Institutional Loyalty, Positivity Bias, and the Alito Nomination

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  • James L. Gibson
  • Gregory A. Caldeira

Abstract

Gibson, Caldeira, and Spence (2003a, 2003b, 2005) expound the theory of positivity bias in their analysis of the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore. This theory asserts that preexisting institutional loyalty shapes perceptions of and judgments about court decisions and events. In this article, we use the theory of positivity bias to investigate the preferences of Americans regarding the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. More specifically, from the theory of positivity bias, we derive the hypothesis that preferences on the Alito confirmation are shaped by anterior commitments to the Supreme Court. Based on an analysis of a national panel survey, we find that those who have a high level of loyalty toward the Supreme Court rely much more heavily on what we term judiciousness—in contrast to ideology, policy, and partisanship—in forming their opinions on whether to confirm Alito. Thus, institutional loyalty provides a decisive frame through which Americans view the activity of their Supreme Court.

Suggested Citation

  • James L. Gibson & Gregory A. Caldeira, 2009. "Confirmation Politics and The Legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court: Institutional Loyalty, Positivity Bias, and the Alito Nomination," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 139-155, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:53:y:2009:i:1:p:139-155
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00362.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gibson, James L. & Caldeira, Gregory A. & Baird, Vanessa A., 1998. "On the Legitimacy of National High Courts," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(2), pages 343-358, June.
    2. Gibson, James L. & Caldeira, Gregory A., 1998. "Changes in the Legitimacy of the European Court of Justice: A Post-Maastricht Analysis," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 63-91, January.
    3. Druckman, James N., 2004. "Political Preference Formation: Competition, Deliberation, and the (Ir)relevance of Framing Effects," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(4), pages 671-686, November.
    4. Segal, Jeffrey A. & Cover, Albert D., 1989. "Ideological Values and the Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 557-565, June.
    5. Gibson, James L. & Caldeira, Gregory A. & Spence, Lester Kenyatta, 2003. "The Supreme Court and the US Presidential Election of 2000: Wounds, Self-Inflicted or Otherwise?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(4), pages 535-556, October.
    6. James L. Gibson & Gregory A. Caldeira & Lester Kenyatta Spence, 2003. "Measuring Attitudes toward the United States Supreme Court," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(2), pages 354-367, April.
    7. Charles S. Taber & Milton Lodge, 2006. "Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(3), pages 755-769, July.
    8. Boynton, G. R. & Loewenberg, Gerhard, 1973. "The Development of Public Support for Parliament in Germany, 1951–59," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 169-189, April.
    9. Caldeira, Gregory A. & Gibson, James L., 1995. "The Legitimacy of the Court of Justice in the European Union: Models of Institutional Support," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(2), pages 356-376, June.
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    Cited by:

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    2. von Haldenwang, Christian, 2016. "Measuring legitimacy: new trends, old shortcomings?," IDOS Discussion Papers 18/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    3. Christopher N. Krewson & Jean R. Schroedel, 2023. "Modern judicial confirmation hearings and institutional support for the Supreme Court," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 104(3), pages 364-369, May.
    4. Alrababah, Ala & Casalis, Marine & Masterson, Daniel & Hangartner, Dominik & Wehrli, & Weinstein, Jeremy, 2023. "Reducing Attrition in Phone-based Panel Surveys: A Web Application to Facilitate Best Practices and Semi-Automate Survey Workflow," OSF Preprints gyz3h, Center for Open Science.

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