Dissensual Decision Making: Revisiting the Demise of Consensual Norms within the US Supreme Court

    Authors

    M. E. Hendershot; M. S. Hurwitz; D. N. Lanier;R. L. Pacelle

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Polit. Res. Q.

    Keywords

    Supreme Court; norm of consensus; dissent; concurrence; agenda; Judiciary Act of 1925; UNITED-STATES; LEADERSHIP; JUSTICES; BURGER; Political Science

    Abstract

    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.

    Journal Title

    Political Research Quarterly

    Volume

    66

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    467

    Last Page

    481

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000318265500017

    ISSN

    1065-9129

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