Political Research Quarterly · 2012 · 29 citations · 25 references
NegotiationBehavioral Decision MakingCriminal Justice ReformConstitutional LawFailed LeadershipLawDecision AnalysisCriminal LawAdministrative LawDecision ScienceIndividual Decision MakingSocial SciencesDissensual Decision MakingLegal AnalyticsLegal ProcessCase LawDecision TheoryBehavioral SciencesUnited States ConstitutionJusticeMultiple ChangepointsCriminal JusticeTransitional JusticeConstitutional LitigationFederal Constitutional LawChief Justice StonePolitical ScienceProcedural Justice
This analysis seeks to understand the decline of Supreme Court consensual norms often attributed to the failed leadership of Chief Justice Stone. A new unit of analysis—justice-level dissent and concurrence rates—supports an alternative view of observed increases in dissensual decision making. When these measures are estimated with time-series techniques, results offer evidence of multiple changepoints in this norm of the Court that both lead and lag Stone’s elevation. Broader contextual explanations related to the alteration of the Court’s discretionary issue agenda and its ideological and demographic composition also contribute to fractures in the once-unanimous voting coalitions.
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