Interpreting Circuit Court Voting Patterns: A 'Social Interactions' Framework
Forthcoming, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization
59 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2010 Last revised: 23 Oct 2012
Date Written: October 22, 2012
Abstract
Many empirical studies have found that circuit judges’ votes are significantly influenced by their panel colleagues. Although this influence is typically measured in terms of colleagues’ characteristics, this article argues that it is better understood as an effect of colleagues’ votes. Applying the latter interpretation, this article reanalyzes eleven prior studies of panel voting, as well as three novel data sets, and reveals the impact of colleagues’ votes to be strikingly uniform. In almost every type of case, each colleague’s vote increases the likelihood that a judge will vote in the same direction by roughly 40 percentage points. This result is consistent with a strong norm of consensus and can account for nearly all of the perceived impact of colleagues’ party, gender, and race. This finding raises questions about strategic and deliberative models of panel voting and helps clarify measurement issues regarding the relationship between judicial characteristics and voting behavior.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging
By Christina L. Boyd, Lee Epstein, ...
-
By Lee Epstein and Gary King
-
By Adam B. Cox and Thomas J. Miles
-
Decision-Making Under a Norm of Consensus: A Structural Analysis of Three-Judge Panels
-
Strategic Judicial Lawmaking: Ideology, Publication, and Asylum Law in the Ninth Circuit
By David S. Law
-
Do Judges Make Regulatory Policy?: An Empirical Investigation of Chevron
By Thomas J. Miles and Cass R. Sunstein
-
Do Judges Make Regulatory Policy? An Empirical Investigation of 'Chevron'
By Thomas J. Miles and Cass R. Sunstein
-
Judicial Hostility Toward Labor Unions? Applying the Social Background Model to a Celebrated Concern
By James J. Brudney, Sara Schiavoni, ...
-
What Is Judicial Ideology, and How Should We Measure It?
By Joshua B. Fischman and David S. Law