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612-822-4611
The Constrained Court: Law, Politics, and the Decisions Justices Make

The Constrained Court: Law, Politics, and the Decisions Justices Make

Paperback

General LawUnited States Politics

ISBN10: 0691151059
ISBN13: 9780691151052
Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr
Published: Sep 11 2011
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.75
Height: 0.60 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.10
Language: English

How do Supreme Court justices decide their cases? Do they follow their policy preferences? Or are they constrained by the law and by other political actors? The Constrained Court combines new theoretical insights and extensive data analysis to show that law and politics together shape the behavior of justices on the Supreme Court.

Michael Bailey and Forrest Maltzman show how two types of constraints have influenced the decision making of the modern Court. First, Bailey and Maltzman document that important legal doctrines, such as respect for precedents, have influenced every justice since 1950. The authors find considerable variation in how these doctrines affect each justice, variation due in part to the differing experiences justices have brought to the bench. Second, Bailey and Maltzman show that justices are constrained by political factors. Justices are not isolated from what happens in the legislative and executive branches, and instead respond in predictable ways to changes in the preferences of Congress and the president.


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