'Ideology in' vs. 'Cultural Cognition of' Law: What Difference Does it Make?

Abstract

Recent scholarship in law and political science identifies ideology as a major determinant of judicial decisionmaking. This essay suggests the possibility that much if not all the evidence this work rests on might be attributed to the influence of cultural cognition, a set of mechanisms that motivate individuals to conform their factual perceptions to their values. Such an account has the potential to furnish a psychologically richer description of how competing values generate judicial dissensus, a more informed normative appraisal of such dissensus, and a more tractable set of prescriptions for reducing it.

Keywords: cultural cognition, ideology, judicial decisionmaking