Republican Schoolmaster
The Least Dangerous Branch Revisited
The Supreme Court hasn't followed public opinion for 50
years
years
The Supreme Court in American Democracy
MISCELLANEOUS
100
Researchers found increased polarization on the ____ scale.
Discretionary
100
___ said “[the Court] has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society, and can take no active resolution whatsoever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgements”.
Alexander Hamilton
100
1953-1969 are the years of this Supreme Court Era
The Warren Court
100
What are the two potential pathways between public opinion and judicial behavior?
Strategic behavior, Attitudinal Change
100
Table from this 2004 study
The Least Dangerous Branch Revisited: New Evidence on Supreme Court Responsiveness to Public Preferences, Kevin McGuire and James Stimson
200
What variables (5) do researchers consider while examining the relationship between Court decisions and public opinion?
Education, gender, race, religion, and frequency of church attendance
200
What are the 3 major domains that were examined
Civil Rights and Liberties, Criminal Procedure, and Economics
200
The political ideology the majority of the public held during The Warren Court
Liberal
200
What are the two diverging aspects of expectations?
Scope of cases and timing of effect of public opinion on judicial behavior
200
In the case of the ____ ____, the impact [of Roe] was a general rise in approval to such abortions.
Health scale
300
According to researchers, a decision that is ____, ____, and ____ is most likely to engage public attitudes
Visible, controversial, and salient
300
Name of aggregate measure of public opinion that the authors used in their analysis
Index of Public Mood
300
The conclusion of Johnson and Strother’s research
There is no relationship between Supreme Court decisions and public opinion
300
“If the strategic behavior explanation is correct, then ____ will affect judicial behavior in ____ cases”
public opinion, salient
300
Franklin and Kosaki examine the role of the Court as a ____ ____ for policy positions.
Legitimizing agent
400
What do the results suggest about the impact of Roe v. Wade?
“The impact of the Court decision was to crystallize issue preferences further and lead to greater homogeneity of within-group beliefs”
400
A system of ___ ____ is “alive and well” in the Supreme Court.
Popular representation
400
The last politician to be on the Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor
400
Define strategic behavior, and attitudinal change.
Justices adjust their decisions to align with public opinion to maintain legitimacy & justices' preferences shift in response to societal forces
400
What are the names of Dr. Hazelton’s co-authors from last week's reading?
Hinkle and Spriggs
500
The contextual theory predicts that:
Homogeny in the social environment is the key variable in attitude change in response to group decisions
500
Why a litigant who has lost in a lower court would petition the Supreme Court for review.
Petition the justices only when they estimate they will win on merits
500
This justice’s arrival in 2018 may help produce court decisions that diverge from what the majority of the public wants
Brett Kavanaugh
500
Stages of the analysis plan:
Reexamine the direct linkage between public opinion and justice liberalism, and test the divergent expectations of the strategic behavior and attitudinal change explanations
500
What is one objection to Epstein and Segal labeling a case as salient if the case is covered on the New York Times?
Timing