Judges and their audiences : a perspective on judicial behavior / Lawrence Baum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baum, Lawrence.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judges--United States.

Judges.

Judicial process--United States.

Judicial process.

Law--Psychological aspects.

Law.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (247 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What motivates judges as decision makers? Political scientist Lawrence Baum offers a new perspective on this crucial question, a perspective based on judges' interest in the approval of audiences important to them. The conventional scholarly wisdom holds that judges on higher courts seek only to make good law, good policy, or both. In these theories, judges are influenced by other people only in limited ways, in consequence of their legal and policy goals. In contrast, Baum argues that the influence of judges' audiences is pervasive. This influence derives from judges' interest in popularity and respect, a motivation central to most people. Judges care about the regard of audiences because they like that regard in itself, not just as a means to other ends. Judges and Their Audiences uses research in social psychology to make the case that audiences shape judges' choices in substantial ways. Drawing on a broad range of scholarship on judicial decision-making and an array of empirical evidence, the book then analyzes the potential and actual impact of several audiences, including the public, other branches of government, court colleagues, the legal profession, and judges' social peers. Engagingly written, this book provides a deeper understanding of key issues concerning judicial behavior on which scholars disagree, identifies aspects of judicial behavior that diverge from the assumptions of existing models, and shows how those models can be strengthened.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1. Thinking about Judicial Behavior

CHAPTER 2. Judging as Self-Presentation

CHAPTER 3. Court Colleagues, the Public, and the Other Branches of Government

CHAPTER 4. Social and Professional Groups

CHAPTER 5. Policy Groups, the News Media, and the Greenhouse Effect

CHAPTER 6. Implications for the Study of Judicial Behavior

References

Name Index

Subject and Case Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-219) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612086854

9781282086852

1282086855

9781400827541

140082754X

OCLC:

521233619