Running for Judge : The Rising Political, Financial, and Legal Stakes of Judicial Elections

by Streb, Matthew J.

• ISBN13: 9780814740972
• ISBN10: 0814740979
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

Across the US, races for judgeships are becoming more and more politically contested. As a result, several states and cities are now considering judicial election reform.Running for Judgeexamines the increasingly contentious judicial elections over the last twenty-five years by providing a timely, insightful analysis of judicial elections. The book ties together the current state of the judicial elections literature, and presents new evidence on a wide range of important topics, including: the history of judicial elections; an understanding of the types of judicial elections; electoral competition during races; the increasing importance of campaign financing; voting in judicial elections; the role interest groups play in supporting candidates; party organizing in supposedly non-partisan elections; judicial accountability; media coverage; and judicial reform of elections.Running for Judgeis an engaging, accessible, empirical analysis of the major issues surrounding judicial elections, with contributions from prominent scholars in the fields of judicial politics, political behavior, and law.ContributorsLawrence Baum, Chris W. Bonneau, Brent D. Boyea, Paul Brace, Rachel P. Caufield, Jennifer Segal Diascro, Brian Frederick, Deborah Goldberg, Melinda Gann Hall, Richard L. Hasen, David Klein, Brian F. Schaffner, and Matthew J. Streb.

Author Biography

Matthew J. Streb is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. He is the author or editor of several books including The New Electoral Politics of Race and Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century: How Terrorism, Governments, and Culture Wars Impact Free Speech.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. ix
List of Figures	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
The Study of Judicial Elections	p. 1
First Amendment Limits on Regulating Judicial Campaigns	p. 15
The Changing Tone of Judicial Election Campaigns as a Result of White	p. 34
The Dynamics of Campaign Spending in State Supreme Court Elections	p. 59
Interest Group Participation in Judicial Elections	p. 73
Partisan Involvement in Partisan and Nonpartisan Trial Court Elections	p. 96
Judicial Elections in the News	p. 115
Voter Responses to High-Visibility Judicial Campaigns	p. 140
Competition as Accountability in State Supreme Court Elections	p. 165
Judicial Selection Methods and Capital Punishment in the American States	p. 186
Judicial Reform and the Future of Judicial Elections	p. 204
Bibliography	p. 219
About the Contributors	p. 239
Index	p. 243
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