Does Public Opinion Influence the Supreme Court? Possibly Yes (But We’re Not Sure Why)

20 Pages Posted: 19 Jun 2012

See all articles by Lee Epstein

Lee Epstein

University of Southern California

Andrew D. Martin

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - College of Literature, Science & the Arts

Date Written: June 19, 2012

Abstract

Using qualitative data and historical methods, Barry Friedman asserts with confidence that “we the people” influence the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Using quantitative data and statistical methods, political scientists are not so sure. Despite their best efforts to validate basic claims about the effect of public opinion on the Court, the evidence remains mixed at best.

We enter this dialogue but in a voice distinct from existing political science work. Rather than explore the relationship between the public and the Court on a term-by-term basis, we analyze it at the level of the case. This allows us to exploit more nuanced public opinion data, as well as to attend to the many other case-level factors that may influence the Court’s decisions.

Based on our analysis, we are prepared to say that Professor Friedman is on to something. When the “mood of the public” is liberal (conservative), the Court is significantly more likely to issue liberal (conservative) decisions. But why is anyone’s guess. Professor Friedman posits that the Justices will bend to the will of the people because the Court requires public support to remain an efficacious branch of government. Our analysis could be read to support this view, but it is equally consistent with another mechanism: that “the people” include the Justices. On this account, the Justices do not respond to public opinion directly, but rather respond to the same events or forces that affect the opinion of other members of the public.

Our study proceeds as follows. In Part II, we briefly review the extant literature, emphasizing the similar methodology it invokes but the varying conclusions it reaches. Parts III and IV describe our methods and findings. We end, in Part V, with the implications of our statistical work for Professor Friedman’s claims, as well as for future research assessing the Court’s response to public opinion.

Keywords: Supreme Court, public opinion, judicial decisionmaking, ideology, quantitative methods

Suggested Citation

Epstein, Lee and Martin, Andrew D., Does Public Opinion Influence the Supreme Court? Possibly Yes (But We’re Not Sure Why) (June 19, 2012). University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 13, No. 263, 2010, Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-05-31, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2087255

Lee Epstein

University of Southern California ( email )

2250 Alcazar Street
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

HOME PAGE: http://epstein.usc.edu/

Andrew D. Martin (Contact Author)

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - College of Literature, Science & the Arts ( email )

Ann Arbor, MI
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sites.lsa.umich.edu/admart

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