Collaborative Research on Organized Group Influence on Federal Judicial Nominations

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During the 1980s, interest groups have expanded their lobbying efforts on behalf of or in opposition to federal judicial nominations. As the federal judiciary has become more evenly divided along ideological lines, organized interests have clashed in the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the floor of the Senate. The extraordinary degree of mobilization and the intensity and numbers of interest groups involved in the debate over the nomination of Judge Bork as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and of other less visible appointments suggest a new style of judicial nominating politics: Organized interest groups are activated to influence judicial nominations, and they demonstrate a commitment to continue to do so. It is difficult, however, to isolate and trace the influence that interest groups might have on such battles. Little is known about why, whether, how, and under what circumstances interest groups affect the judicial nomination process. This project will be the first in-depth quantitative analysis of interest group lobbying of the U.S. Senate on federal judicial nominations. Individuals from hundreds of groups and coalitions at the national, state, and local levels that participated in these contests will be identified and interviewed. Questions will focus on such issues as the relative lobbying efforts devoted to different senators, the use of different tactics (e.g., direct mail, media advertising), the size of active membership in each state, the decision within an organization to take part in a particular nomination or join a coalition, and patterns of communication among organized interests. The objectives of the study are to (1) assess the impact of organized lobbying efforts on the decisions of senators to support or oppose controversial nominations to the federal judiciary, (2) determine how organized groups allocate their lobbying resources across states and senators, and (3) develop and test a model of organizational decisions to participate in judicial nomination battles. This research will provide new insights into the mobilization, collective action strategies, and impact of organized interests in a specific and well-defined legislative process. The study should aid in the development of a unified theory of how interest groups maneuver into and out of the various political and legal arenas. Because judicial confirmation is at the intersection of legislative and judicial policymaking, the research should also add to our understanding of the ability of organized interests to shape the personnel of the Court and thus future interpretations of the Constitution, statutes, and administrative regulations.