The puzzle of judicial behavior
By: Lawrence Baum.
Series: Analytical perspectives on politics
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 215
Subjects: Judicial process -- United States; Political questions and judicial power -- United States; Judicial process -- Social aspects; Judicial process -- Psychological aspects
Description: From local trial courts to the United States Supreme Court, judges' decisions affect the fate of individual litigants and the fate of the nation as a whole. Scholars have long discussed and debated explanations of judicial behavior. With this book Lawrence Baum examines the major issues in the debates over how best to understand judicial behavior and assesses what we actually know about how judges decide cases.

He concludes that we are far from understanding why judges choose the positions they take in court. This book will be of interest to political scientists and scholars in law and courts as well as attorneys interested in understanding judges as decision makers and seeking to understand what we can learn from scholarly research about judicial behavior.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-199) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: General perspectives; title: Legal policy and other goals; title: Law and policy; title: Strategic behavior; title: Looking to the future.