Ideological Congruity on State Supreme Courts

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe methods of selection used to populate state supreme courts have led observers to question the effectiveness of these institutions to produce representative agents. We wish to know to what extent judicial ideology is constrained by citizens' preferences, and what institution best controls judicial ideology in order to produce a representative court. We examine the 52 supreme courts from 1995 to 2005, focusing on how different selection methods impact the amount of ideological drift between citizens and the judiciary. We conclude that institutions that lack an explicit ideological cue, such as partisanship, or frequent electoral checks on judges, insulate their courts from an ideological connection with the public.