Abstract
The international environment influences domestic politics, particularly during times of war. The traditional governmental response to such crises is to curtail the civil rights and liberties of Americans in the name of national security. Often, challenges to these restrictive policies find their way into the federal court system. However, little is known about the systematic affects of these conflicts on the choices jurists make. To redress this deficiency, we investigate whether the decision making of federal district court judges is influenced by international conflicts by examining the choices those judges make during periods of both war and peace. In addition, we consider whether male and female jurists react differently to periods of international unrest. Our results indicate that, while male federal court judges do respond to wars, female judges do not. However, while statistically significant, the substantive effects of wars on the decision making of male judges is substantively marginal. As such, our results suggest that the judiciary's unique institutional place in American politics allows federal district court judges to remain relatively free from the pressures that exist in life during wartime.
Submitted Version (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call