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Politicization and the Two Modes of Evaluating Judicial Decisions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Benjamin Woodson
Benjamin Woodson*
Affiliation:
University of Missouri–Kansas City
*
Contact the author at woodsonb@umkc.edu.
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Abstract

Since courts lack control of the purse and the sword, understanding what causes the public to accept court decisions is essential. Using three studies, this paper shows that the public’s perception of the process judges use to make decisions changes the determinants of acceptance. When judges are perceived as using a principled decision-making process, institutional loyalty determines acceptance. When judges are perceived as using a politicized decision-making process, agreement with the policy implications of a decision determines acceptance. These results emphasize the importance of decision-making process perceptions in ensuring that courts can induce voluntary acceptance of their decisions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Fall 2015 , pp. 193 - 221
Copyright
© 2015 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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