Scoring Points

by Scherer, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9780804749497
• ISBN10: 0804749493
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-15
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This book explores how the lower federal court appointment process became vastly politicized in the modern era. Scherer develops a theory of "elite mobilization," positing that lower court appointments have always been used by politicians for electoral purposes, but because of two historic changes to American institutions in the 1950s and 1960sthe breakdown of the old party system, and a federal judiciary reception to expanding individuals' constitutional rightspoliticians shifted from an appointment system dominated by patronage to a system dominated by new policy-oriented appointment strategies. The use of these new strategies not only resulted in partisan warfare during the nomination and confirmation stages of the appointment process, but also led to party-polarized voting in the lower federal courts. Employing exclusive data of judicial decision-making from the New Deal era through the present, Scherer demonstrates that there was little party-polarized voting in the lower federal courts until the late 1960s, and that once politicians began to use elite mobilization strategies, significant party-polarized voting in the lower federal courts resulted. Accordingly, elite mobilization strategies have affected not only politics in Washington, but also the way justice is distributed across the country.

Author Biography

Nancy Scherer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction: Why Has the Lower Federal Court Appointment Process Become So Politicized?	1	(8)
PART ONE Judicial Selection in Historical Perspective	9	(38)
1. The Theory of Elite Mobilization	11	(17)
2. From Patronage to Policy	28	(19)
PART TWO Elite Mobilization Strategies for the Modern Political Era	47	(150)
3. The Role of Political Ideology in the Lower Court Nomination Process	49	(25)
4. Affirmative Action and Judicial Selection	74	(34)
5. Political Activists Turn Their Attention to the Confirmation Phase of the Appointment Process	108	(25)
6. The Rise of Senate Obstructionism in the Judicial Confirmation Process	133	(25)
7. Lower Court Judicial Selection as a Campaign Issue	158	(23)
8. The Impact of Divided Government on the Lower Court Appointment Process	181	(11)
9. Conclusion	192	(5)
Appendix A. Explanation and Coding of Variables: Labor Models	197	(5)
Appendix B. Explanation and Coding of Variables: Search and Seizure Models	202	(7)
Appendix C. Explanation and Coding of Variables: Race Discrimination Models	209	(7)
Appendix D. Explanation and Coding of Variables: States' Rights Models	216	(5)
Appendix E. Explanation and Coding of Variables: Abortion Rights Data Set	221	(4)
List of Cases	225	(2)
Notes	227	(14)
References	241	(16)
Index	257