Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:36:04.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Explaining Judicial Diversity: The Differential Ability of Women and Minorities to Attain Seats on State Supreme and Appellate Courts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Mark S. Hurwitz  and
Drew Noble Lanier
Mark S. Hurwitz
Affiliation:
University at Buffalo, SUNY
Drew Noble Lanier
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Representation in political institutions, including the judiciary, is an important consideration for both political scientists and citizens. What factors systematically influence diversity among judges? In particular, does the method of selection affect the relative success of political minorities in attaining a seat on the bench? The answers to these questions have substantial normative and theoretical implications. We examine judges on all state supreme and intermediate appellate courts in 1985 and 1999 to assess the influence of various structural, political, and demographic factors on judicial diversity. We demonstrate that the ability of political minorities to attain a place in the judiciary is not solely a function of any single factor. Instead, their success is influenced by a multifaceted combination of factors contingent on time and the level of the court, and these influences differ for women and for minorities.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , Winter 2003 , pp. 329 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alozie, Nicholas O. 1988. “Black Representation on State Judiciaries.” Social Science Quarterly 69:979–986.Google Scholar
Alozie, Nicholas O. 1990. “Distribution of Women and Minority Judges: The Effects of Judicial Selection Methods.” Social Science Quarterly 71:315–325.Google Scholar
Alozie, Nicholas O. 1996. “Selection Methods and the Recruitment of Women to State Courts of Last Resort.” Social Science Quarterly 77:110–126.Google Scholar
Baum, Lawrence. 2001. American Courts: Process and Policy. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russell L.. 1998. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960-93.” American Journal of Political Science 42:337–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W. 2001. “The Composition of State Supreme Courts, 2000.” Judicature 85:26–31.Google Scholar
Brace, Paul, Langer, Laura, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2000. “Measuring the Preferences of State Supreme Court Judges.” Journal of Politics 62:387–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1995. “Studying Courts Comparatively: The View from the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 48:529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, Hall, Melinda Gann, and Langer, Laura. 2001. “Placing Courts in State Politics.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:81–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Spill, Rorie L.. 2002. “Existing Diversity and Judicial Selection: The Role of the Appointment Method in Establishing Gender Diversity in State Supreme Courts.” Social Science Quarterly 83:504–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, A. Colin, and Trivedi, Pravin K.. 1998. Regression Analysis of Count Data. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Champagne, Anthony. 1986. “The Selection and Retention of Judges in Texas.” Southwestern Law Journal 40:53–117.Google Scholar
Council of State Governments. Various years. The Book of the States. Lexington, KY: The Council of State Governments.Google Scholar
Dubois, Philip. 1983. “The Influence of Selection System on the Characteristics of a Trial Court Bench.” Justice System Journal 8:59–87.Google Scholar
Elazar, Daniel J. 1984. American Federalism: A View from the States. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Flango, Carol R., and Rottman, David B.. 1998. Appellate Court Procedures. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.Google Scholar
Flango, Victor Eugene, and Ducat, Craig R.. 1979. “What Difference Does Method of Judicial Selection Make? Selection Procedures in State Courts of Last Resort.” Justice System Journal 5:25–44.Google Scholar
George, Tracey E. 2001. “Court Fixing.” Arizona Law Review 43:9–62.Google Scholar
Glick, Henry R., and Emmert, Craig F.. 1987. “Selection Systems and Judicial Characteristics: The Recruitment of State Supreme Court Judges.” Judicature 70:228–235.Google Scholar
Goldman, Sheldon. 1972. “Johnson and Nixon Appointees to the Lower Federal Courts: Some Socio-Political Perspectives.” Journal of Politics 34:934–942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldman, Sheldon. 1997. Picking Federal Judges: Lower Court Selection from Roosevelt through Reagan. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Graham, Barbara Luck. 1990a. “Do Judicial Selection Systems Matter? A Study of Black Representation on State Courts.” American Politics Quarterly 18:316–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, Barbara Luck. 1990b. “Judicial Recruitment and Racial Diversity on State Courts: An Overview.” Judicature 74:28–34.Google Scholar
Gryski, Gerard S., Zuk, Gary, and Barrow, Deborah J.. 1994. “A Bench That Looks Like America? Representation of African Americans and Latinos on the Federal Courts.” Journal of Politics 56:1076–1086.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “State Supreme Courts in American Democracy: Probing the Myths of Judicial Reform.” American Political Science Review 95:315–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, M.L., Koslow, Estajo, Soffer, Joseph, and Furey, John. 1985. The Success of Women and Minorities in Achieving Judicial Office: The Selection Process. New York: The Fund for Modern Courts.Google Scholar
Hurwitz, Mark S., and Lanier, Drew Noble. 2001. “Women and Minorities on State and Federal Appellate Benches, 1985 and 1999.” Judicature 85:84–92.Google Scholar
Karnig, Albert K., and Welch, Susan. 1979. “Sex and Ethnic Differences in Municipal Representation.” Social Science Quarterly 60:465–481.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Winter, Nicholas. 2001. “Exploring the Racial Divide: Blacks, Whites, and Opinion on National Policy.” American Journal of Political Science 45:439–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1988. “Statistical Models for Political Science Event Counts: Bias in Conventional Procedures and Evidence for the Exponential Poisson Regression Model.” American Journal of Political Science 32:838–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1989. “Variance Specification in Event Count Models: From Restrictive Assumptions to a Generalized Estimator.” American Journal of Political Science 33:762–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, James D. 2002. “Single-Member Districts and the Representation of Women in American State Legislatures: The Effects of Electoral System Change.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2:161–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langer, Laura. 2002. Judicial Review in State Supreme Courts: A Comparative Study. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Long, J. Scott. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lyon, Mark A. 1981. The Proportions of Black Judges to Black Population in Supreme and Appellate Jurisdictions: Elective vs. Appointive Systems of Judicial Selection. Chicago: Committee on Courts and Justice.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane. 1999. “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes’.” Journal of Politics 61:628–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Elaine. 1987. “Gender and Judicial Selection: A Comparison of the Reagan and Carter Administrations.” Judicature 71:136–142.Google Scholar
McDermott, Monika L. 1997. “Voting Cues in Low-Information Elections: Candidate Gender as a Social Information Variable in Contemporary United States Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 41:270–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pacelle, Richard L. Jr. 1991. The Transformation of the Supreme Court's Agenda: From the New Deal to the Reagan Administration. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, Anne. 1998. “Democracy and Representation: Or, Why Should It Matter Who Our Representatives Are?” In Women and Elective Office, eds. Thomas, Sue and Wilcox, Clyde. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pitkin, Hanna. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, Cindy Simon. 1995. “The Role of Gender in Descriptive Representation.” Political Research Quarterly 48:599–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rottman, David B., Roper, Robert, and Knoebel, Dixie. 1988. State Court Organization 1987. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.Google Scholar
Schroedel, Jean Reith, and Mazumdar, Nicola. 1998. “Into the Twenty-First Century: Will Women Break the Political Glass Ceiling?” In Women and Elective Office, eds. Thomas, Sue and Wilcox, Clyde. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., and Cover, Albert D.. 1989. “Ideological Values and the Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices.” American Political Science Review 83:557–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sigelman, Lee, and Welch, Susan. 1984. “Race, Gender, and Opinion Toward Black and Female Presidential Candidates.” Public Opinion Quarterly 48:46775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slotnick, Elliot E. 1984. “Judicial Selection Systems and Nomination Outcomes: Does the Process Make a Difference?” American Politics Quarterly 12:225–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slotnick, Elliot E. 1988. “Review Essay on Judicial Recruitment and Selection.” Justice System Journal 13:109–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Songer, Donald R., Sheehan, Reginald S., and Haire, Susan B.. 2000. Continuity and Change on the United States Courts of Appeals. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Songer, Donald R., Davis, Sue, and Haire, Susan. 1994. “A Reappraisal of Diversification in the Federal Courts: Gender Effects in the Courts of Appeals.” Journal of Politics 56:425–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steffensmeier, Darrell, and Britt, Chester L.. 2001. “Judges' Race and Judicial Decision-Making: Do Black Judges Sentence Differently?” Social Science Quarterly 82:749–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uslaner, Eric M., and Weber, Ronald E.. 1983. “Policy Congruence and American State Elites: Descriptive Representation Versus Electoral Accountability.” Journal of Politics 45:183–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, Thomas G., and Barrow, Deborah J.. 1985. “The Diversification of the Federal Bench: Policy and Process Ramifications.” Journal of Politics 47:596–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, Hanes Jr. 1985. Invisible Politics: Black Political Behavior. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Warden, R., Schlesinger, T., and Kearney, J.. 1979. Women, Blacks and Merit Selection of Judges. Chicago: Committee on Courts and Justice.Google Scholar
Warrick, Lyle. 1993. Judicial Selection in the United States: A Compendium of Provisions. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Judicature Society.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde. 1990. “Race, Gender Role Attitudes and Support for Feminism.” Western Political Quarterly 43:113–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar