Baum Judges and Their Audiences

A Perspective on Judicial Behavior
Course Book
ISBN: 978-1-4008-2754-1
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

What motivates judges as decision makers? Political scientist Lawrence Baum offers a new perspective on this crucial question, a perspective based on judges' interest in the approval of audiences important to them.

The conventional scholarly wisdom holds that judges on higher courts seek only to make good law, good policy, or both. In these theories, judges are influenced by other people only in limited ways, in consequence of their legal and policy goals. In contrast, Baum argues that the influence of judges' audiences is pervasive. This influence derives from judges' interest in popularity and respect, a motivation central to most people. Judges care about the regard of audiences because they like that regard in itself, not just as a means to other ends. Judges and Their Audiences uses research in social psychology to make the case that audiences shape judges' choices in substantial ways. Drawing on a broad range of scholarship on judicial decision-making and an array of empirical evidence, the book then analyzes the potential and actual impact of several audiences, including the public, other branches of government, court colleagues, the legal profession, and judges' social peers.

Engagingly written, this book provides a deeper understanding of key issues concerning judicial behavior on which scholars disagree, identifies aspects of judicial behavior that diverge from the assumptions of existing models, and shows how those models can be strengthened.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Baum, Lawrence

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Tables ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Chapter 1: Thinking about Judicial Behavior 1

Models of Judicial Behavior 5

Shared Assumptions: The Judge as Mr. Spock 9

Limitations of the Dominant Models 19

Audience as a Perspective 21

Chapter 2: Judging as Self-Presentation 25

People and Their Audiences 25

Judicial Self-Presentation: A First Look 32

Audiences and Judicial Behavior 43

Chapter 3: Court Colleagues, the Public, and the Other Branches of Government 50

Court Colleagues 50

The General Public 60

The Other Branches 72

Conclusions 85

Chapter 4: Social and Professional Groups 88

Social Groups 88

Professional Groups: Lawyers and Judges 97

Conclusions 116

Chapter 5: Policy Groups, the News Media, and the Greenhouse Effect 118

Policy Groups 118

The News Media 135

A Greenhouse Effect? 139

Conclusions 155

Appendix: Procedures for Analysis of Voting Change by Supreme Court Justices 155

Chapter 6: Implications for the Study of Judicial Behavior 158

Motivational Bases for the Dominant Models 158

Departures from the Dominant Models 162

Probing the Impact of Judicial Audiences 171

Some Final Thoughts 174

References 177

Name Index 221

Subject and Case Index 229

Über Autor(innen)

Lawrence Baum is professor of political science at Ohio State University. He is a student of judicial politics, with a primary interest in explanation of judicial behavior. His previous books include include American Courts, The Supreme Court, and The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior.