Ideological Influences on Governance and Regulation: The Comparative Case of Supreme Courts

41 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2016 Last revised: 28 Feb 2017

See all articles by Keren Weinshall

Keren Weinshall

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law

Udi Sommer

Columbia University - Department of Political Science; Tel Aviv University

Ya'acov Ritov

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Date Written: December 15, 2016

Abstract

A key influence on governance and regulation is the ideology of individual decisionmakers. Still, certain branches of government — such as courts — while wielding wide ranging regulatory powers, are expected to do so with no attitudinal influence. We posit a dynamic response model to investigate attitudinal behavior in different national courts. Our ideological scores are estimated based on probability models that formalize the assumption that judicial decisions consist of ideological, strategic and jurisprudential components. The Dynamic Comparative Attitudinal Measure (DCAM) estimates the attitudinal decision-making on the institution as a whole. Additionally, we estimate Ideological Ideal Point Preference (IIPP) for individual justices. Empirical results with original data for political and religious rights rulings in the Supreme Courts of the U.S, Canada, India, the Philippines and Israel corroborate the measures’ validity. Future studies can utilize IIPP and DCAM to cover additional courts, legal spheres and time frames, and to estimate government deference.

Suggested Citation

Weinshall, Keren and Sommer, Udi and Ritov, Ya'acov, Ideological Influences on Governance and Regulation: The Comparative Case of Supreme Courts (December 15, 2016). Regulation & Governance, Forthcoming, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Legal Research Paper No. 17-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2889880

Keren Weinshall (Contact Author)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law ( email )

Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus, 91905
Israel

Udi Sommer

Columbia University - Department of Political Science ( email )

7th Floor, International Affairs Bldg.
420 W. 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
United States

Tel Aviv University ( email )

Ramat Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Israel 62486
Israel
9176226009 (Phone)

Ya'acov Ritov

Hebrew University of Jerusalem ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905
Israel

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