Oral arguments and coalition formation on the U.S. Supreme Court
Subtitle: a deliberate dialogue
By: Ryan C. Black, Timothy R. Johnson, and Justin Wedeking
Contributors: Johnson, Timothy R.; Wedeking, Justin
Publisher: University of Michigan
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 141
ISBN-13: 9780472118465; 9780472028658
Subjects: Judicial process; United States. Supreme Court; United States; Forensic orations; Oral pleading; Decision making
Description: "The U.S. Supreme Court, with its controlled, highly institutionalized decision-making practices, provides an ideal environment for studying coalition formation. The process begins during the oral argument stage, which provides the justices with their first opportunity to hear one another's attitudes and concerns specific to a case. This information gathering allows them eventually to form a coalition. In order to uncover the workings of this process, the authors analyze oral argument transcripts from every case decided from 1998 through 2007 as well as the complete collection of notes kept during oral arguments by Justice Lewis F. Powell and Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Both justices clearly monitored their fellow justices' participation in the discussion and used their observations to craft opinions their colleagues would be likely to support. This study represents a major step forward in the understanding of coalition formation, which is a crucial aspect of many areas of political debate and decision making"--Unedited summary from book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Justices' direct interactions during oral arguments, 1998-2007; title: Listen to me; title: -how justices learn during oral arguments; title: Predicting coalitions from oral arguments.