Federal District Judges and Presidential Power During the Postwar Era

Abstract

Analysis of nearly two hundred federal district court decisions in cases involving exercise of presidential power during postwar era reveals two very different models of judicial decision making. In cases concerning presidential control of foreign and military policy, judicial decision making appears to be dominated by recognition of fixed rules. So clear are these rules of deference to executive that identification of policy-making area alone constitutes an excellent predictor of case outcomes. By contrast, statistical importance of such predictor variables as presidential prestige and whether judge was appointed by same president as that whose powers are at issue in case suggests much greater relativism in judicial response when president is challenged as a domestic policymaker. As far as federal district courts are concerned, presidential power over foreign and military affairs may aptly be called the power to command, while executive's power in dom...