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Degree

PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science, 2011.

Abstract

Research on the U.S. Supreme Court is ubiquitous, and has focused primarily on agenda setting at the primary access point (the certiorari stage) and on decision-making on the merits. In the course of this research, scholars have devised numerous ways to explain justice voting behavior. The main argument has been whether political attitudes motivates justice voting behavior, or whether internal and external variables pose constraints on the ability of the justices to realize their sincere preferences. This dissertation takes a new look at the factors motivating justice voting behavior by examining justiciability and jurisdictional issues (termed “secondary access”). The dissertation’s goal is to develop a strategic model that incorporates pertinent influences on the individual justices’ votes. The dissertation also builds institutional-level models of Court behavior to gauge the effectiveness of the behavioral models. The author finds that attitudes, the adherence to precedent, legal doctrine, public pressure, internal strategy, and preferences of Congress and the President all influence individual voting.

Subject Headings

Political Science

Keywords

Supreme Court; justiciability; voting; decisionmaking

Committee / Advisors

Christopher Banks (Committee Chair)
Ryan Claassen (Committee Member)
Mark Colvin (Committee Member)
Elizabeth Smith-Prior (Committee Member)
Stephen Webster (Other)

Pages

166p.

Document number: kent1302048596
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302048596

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