The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics
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Cornell W. Clayton
Cornell W. Clayton is the Director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service and the Claudius O. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Washington State University.
and
Lucas K. McMillan
Lucas K. McMillan is a Doctoral Student in Political Science at Washington State University.
Abstract
This essay examines the Roberts Court and its relationship to the Obama administration. It begins by analyzing the ways in which the Court has been structured by electoral politics over the past 40 years, arguing that the Court’s more conservative, divided, and polarized decision-making reflects the politics of the post-1968 electoral regime. It concludes by considering the impact of President Obama’s 2012 reelection, contending that there is little indication that Obama aspires to restructure the courts fundamentally or to push major new constitutional initiatives. Although Obama will undoubtedly have an opportunity to fill at least one seat on the Court in the coming years, he is unlikely to alter its ideological balance, leaving Justice Kennedy as the swing justice. Thus, while liberals can expect isolated judicial victories, Obama’s reelection does not portend an imminent shift in Court decision-making. Only time will tell, however, whether it will have longer-term consequences for American constitutional development.
About the authors
Cornell W. Clayton is the Director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service and the Claudius O. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Washington State University.
Lucas K. McMillan is a Doctoral Student in Political Science at Washington State University.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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- Introduction
- If I Could Hold a Seminar for Political Journalists…
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- The Miserable Presidential Election of 2012: A First Party-Term Incumbent Survives
- The Presidential Election of 2012 by the Numbers and in Historical Perspective
- Campaign Effects and Dynamics in the 2012 Election
- How the Romney Campaign Blew it
- Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012
- Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context
- Barking Louder: Interest Groups in the 2012 Election
- Why Super PACs: How the American Party System Outgrew the Campaign Finance System
- Super PACs and the 2012 Elections
- The Primary End Game and General Election Outcomes: Are they Connected?
- Red State/Blue State Divisions in the 2012 Presidential Election
- The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- If I Could Hold a Seminar for Political Journalists…
- Sorting the American States into Red and Blue: Culture, Economics, and the 2012 US Presidential Election in Historical Context
- The Miserable Presidential Election of 2012: A First Party-Term Incumbent Survives
- The Presidential Election of 2012 by the Numbers and in Historical Perspective
- Campaign Effects and Dynamics in the 2012 Election
- How the Romney Campaign Blew it
- Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012
- Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context
- Barking Louder: Interest Groups in the 2012 Election
- Why Super PACs: How the American Party System Outgrew the Campaign Finance System
- Super PACs and the 2012 Elections
- The Primary End Game and General Election Outcomes: Are they Connected?
- Red State/Blue State Divisions in the 2012 Presidential Election
- The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics
