Supreme Court Polarization and Its Effects on Judicial Decision Making, the Media, and Institutional Legitimacy

最高法院的两极分化及其对司法决策、媒体和机构合法性的影响

• 批准号: 1654882
• 负责人: Brandon Bartels
• 金额: $ 21.9万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-01 至 2019-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1654882&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Supreme; Court; Polarization; Its; Effects

The U.S. Supreme Court has become more ideologically polarized over time, with the Court?s center shrinking as more justices populate each end of the ideological spectrum. This has occurred, in part, because Presidents, Senators, and policy groups have increasingly prioritized ideological compatibility and reliability in the appointment process. This project will document the degree of polarization over several Court eras, highlighting periods of low to high polarization. Because the Court has become increasingly divided as it decides some of the most important issues in American politics, each vacancy represents an opportunity to shape the long-term direction of the Court?s decision making. The project seeks to explain how and why polarization matters for the Court?s role in American government. The project consists of five components. First, the study will include extensive data and statistical analyses of the changing levels of Court polarization since 1946, measuring justices? ?swing capacities? to determine how many justices in a given period were swing justices vis-à-vis reliable ideologues. Second, the project will include statistical analyses of how polarization has influenced the direction of the Court?s decision making, while testing whether the existence of at least one swing justice sustains fairly moderate policy outputs over time. Third, by analyzing Supreme Court voting data, the project aims to explain a ?polarization paradox?: As Court polarization has increased over time, both the rates of closely-divided (5-4) case outcomes and of unanimous decisions have escalated. Fourth, by engaging in content-analyzes of media coverage of the Court?s rulings over time, the study will analyze whether the media report on the Court in more political and less legalistic terms in polarized eras relative to less polarized eras. Finally, the project will examine how polarization influences the legitimacy and authority of the Court as the final arbiter of constitutional meaning in American politics. Using an experimental approach, this project will test whether a polarized Supreme Court elicits lower levels of legitimacy from the mass public than a less polarized Court.

随着时间的推移，美国最高法院在意识形态上变得更加两极分化，最高法院？随着越来越多的大法官占据意识形态光谱的两端，美国的中心正在缩小。出现这种情况的部分原因是，总统、参议员和政策团体在任命过程中越来越重视意识形态的兼容性和可靠性。这个项目将记录几个法院时代的两极分化程度，突出低到高的两极分化时期。因为最高法院在决定美国政治中一些最重要的问题时变得越来越分裂，每一个空缺都代表着一个塑造最高法院长期方向的机会？的决策。该项目试图解释两极分化如何以及为什么对法院至关重要？在美国政府中的作用。该项目由五个部分组成。首先，这项研究将包括广泛的数据和统计分析的变化水平的法院两极分化自1946年以来，衡量法官？?周转能力？以确定在特定时期内有多少大法官是摇摆不定的大法官，而维斯可靠的理论家。第二，该项目将包括对两极分化如何影响法院方向的统计分析。的决策，同时测试是否存在至少一个摇摆法官维持相当温和的政策产出随着时间的推移。第三，通过分析最高法院的投票数据，该项目旨在解释一个？极化悖论：随着时间的推移，最高法院两极分化的情况越来越严重，意见分歧（5-4）的案件结果和一致决定的比例都在上升。第四，对媒体对法院的报道进行内容分析？随着时间的推移，这项研究将分析媒体是否在两极分化的时代相对于不那么两极分化的时代以更多的政治和更少的法律术语报道法院。最后，该项目将研究如何两极分化影响的合法性和权威的法院作为宪法意义的最终仲裁者在美国政治。本项目将采用实验性方法，测试两极分化的最高法院是否会比两极分化程度较低的法院从公众那里获得较低的合法性。