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September 20, 2018|authoritarianism, Judicial Independence

Judicial Independence, Authoritarian Politics, and Blame Shifting

by James R. Rogers|

Anwar Sadat at the White House in Washington DC., August 6, 1981 (Mark Reinstein/Shutterstock.com).
Ironically, sometimes too much power hinders one’s ability to achieve what one desires.

September 19, 2018|authoritarian liberalism, authoritarianism, Judicial Independence, principal-agent problem

The Oxymoron of Judicial Independence in Authoritarian Polities

by James R. Rogers|

Image: Mr. Yanukit / Shutterstock.com
Authoritarian rulers need to implement laws as much as non-authoritarians do, and that means judges have more independence than you might think.

May 2, 2017|Job Market Signaling, judicial activism, Judicial Independence, Michael Spence

Cheap Talk and “Efficient Waste” in Politics (and Marriage)

by James R. Rogers|

The signaling model of education is pretty well known these days. Starting with Nobel-prize winning economist Michael Spence’s article on “Job Market Signaling” in the early 1970s, the extreme version of the model articulates a reason schooling would exist even if it did not increase human capital in the least. The canonical story goes something like this: There are two types of workers, high quality and low quality. Employers want to hire high-quality workers, and would be willing to pay them more. But they can’t tell high-quality workers apart from low-quality workers. If a potential employer were to ask applicants…

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July 11, 2016|Judicial Independence, Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The Improper Comments of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

by Mike Rappaport|

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now 83 years old.  One often hears it said that she ought to step down.  By now, Ginsburg has a set response to this criticism: She says that she is not the only old justice.  She notes that Kennedy is about to turn 80 and Breyer is going to turn 78.

I have no idea whether Ginsburg is too old to perform her duties.  What I do know is that Ginsburg appears increasingly prone to making politically inappropriate statements.

In an interview last week, Ginsburg made several improper statements. First, Ginsburg gave what the New York Times describe as “an unequivocal endorsement of Judge Garland,” who President Obama had nominated for the Court but the Senate has refused to consider.  It is normally considered improper for a Supreme Court justice to comment on a politically charged issue of this type.

In addition, Ginsburg also asserted that the Senate had an obligation to assess Judge Garland’s qualifications, stating “that’s their job” and “there’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being president in his last year.”  Not only do I regard this comment as mistaken, it is once again inappropriate.  The President remains the President, of course.  The Senate has simply decided not to act on this nominee.  Ginsburg’s argument reads like Democratic Party talking points.

Second, Ginsburg made critical comments about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.  She stated “I can’t imagine what this place would be — I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president.”  She also suggested that if Trump were elected, it would be time to move to New Zealand. 

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July 7, 2013|Judicial Accountability, judicial elections, Judicial Independence, Term Limits

Balancing Independence and Accountability of State Court Judges

by James L. Gibson|

In recent times, social science scholarship on the selection and retention of state judges, especially high court judges, has exploded. The American states have become interesting again. And along with the scholarship has come intense policy debates about the structure and functions of these state courts of last resort. A central—no, the central—issue capturing the attention of so many analysts is how to balance judicial independence and judicial accountability. Only the thoughtless and the lazy prefer total independence or total accountability. The tough intellectual work goes to the questions of (a) striking the best balance between independence and accountability, and (b)…

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June 9, 2013|Electing Judges, Judicial Independence, Republican Party of Minnesota v. White

The Popular Legitimacy of Judicial Elections

by G. Alan Tarr|

Almost ninety percent of state judges must seek the support of voters either to win a seat on the bench or to retain that seat.  During recent decades, state judicial elections have become more fiercely contested—“nastier, noisier, and costlier” in the view of their critics--particularly when seats on the state supreme court are at stake. The cost of judicial campaigns has skyrocketed, as have independent expenditures by interest groups. Reliance on TV ads in judicial races has increased dramatically, and the harshness of campaign rhetoric has escalated.  In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White…

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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