Political Science 420: Judicial Decision-Making Spring 2013 Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:45-2:05 337 Grise Hall Professor: Office: Phone: E-mail:

Office Hours Dr. Jeffrey Budziak Tuesday 3:45 - 4:30 312 Grise Hall Wednesday 1:30 - 3:00 (270) 745-6391 By appointment [email protected]

Course Description Welcome to PS 420: Judicial Decision-Making. This course is one of the potential offerings made under the generic course name of PS 420: Selected Topics in Public Law. All courses must strike a balance between examining a broad scope of material in somewhat limited depth and examining a narrower set of material in comparatively greater depth. The nature of most undergraduate courses is to opt for the former. A “selected topics” course opts for the later. Rather than attempting to tackle a broad set of material, this course is designed to allow the class to investigate a more narrow set of material with a unique level of specificity. This specific iteration of the “selected topics” course will be devoted to the study of judicial decision-making. Scholars confront many important questions when examining the role of the judiciary in the political system. Perhaps most important among them is a simple question: how do judges reach decisions? This is the central question we will address. This course is designed to demonstrate how scholars systematically study the process of judicial decision-making. While we will investigate decision-making making in a variety of contexts, a clear majority of the material will be devoted to understanding the decision-making processes of the United States Supreme Court. Allow me to take a moment to discuss the unique structure of this course. This class is designed to be a seminar style course. This is different from most classes you have taken in the past, which (generally speaking) have been structured as lecture style courses. What differentiates a seminar style course from a lecture style course is the management of class participation. In a lecture style course the instructor is primarily responsible for the presentation of content and the management of class discussion. A seminar style course is much more egalitarian, where students and instructors contribute equal to the management and structure of the course. This course will strive to function as closely to a true seminar style course as possible. Required Texts ●

The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior, by Lawrence Baum. 1997. (henceforth BAUM in syllabus).

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The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited, by Jeffrey A. Segal and Harold J. Spaeth. 2002. (henceforth SEGAL AND SPAETH in syllabus) 1

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The Choices Justices Make, by Lee Epstein and Jack Knight. 1998. (henceforth EPSTEN AND KNIGHT in syllabus)

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Other articles or reading assignments listed in the syllabus with a * are available on the course Blackboard website.

Grading There are a possible 400 points available in the course. Class Participation (100 points): Class participation will be an important component of each student’s final course grade. The nature of a seminar style course requires students to contribute to the course beyond passive observation. This also puts a burden on students that may not be typical of a lecture style course. I have therefore incorporated class participation into the course grade. Participation will be judged on attendance, preparedness, and both the quantity and quality of contributions to class discussion. Exams (100 points): Students will complete both a midterm exam and a final exam in the course. These two non-cumulative exams will consist of short answer and essay questions and will be worth up to 50 points each (50 points x 2 exams = 100 total points). The midterm exam will occur during the semester (see the Course Schedule below for dates) and the final exam will occur during the University Final Exam Week. More information about the exams will be provided as the dates approach. Presentations (100 points): Each student in the class will be responsible for giving two presentations. Each presentation will be worth up to 50 points (50 points X 2 presentations = 100 total points). The first presentation will be a biographic sketch of one of the current members of the United States Supreme Court. The second presentation will be a presentation of your Supreme Court Case Prediction paper (see below). Students will sign up for dates of both presentations using the Course Blackboard page. A handout detailing the requirements of each presentation will be distributed in class. Supreme Court Case Prediction Paper (100 points): Each student will submit a Supreme Court Case Prediction Paper of roughly 10-12 pages in length which applies many of the concepts we have discussed in class to members of the current Supreme Court and predicts their decision-making in a case currently pending before the Supreme Court. Students will sign up for their cases using the Course Blackboard page. A handout detailing the requirements of the paper will be distributed in class. Blackboard and E-Mail Students should regularly check their official WKU e-mail and the course Blackboard website for class announcements and any online course readings. Please consider checking both your e-mail and Blackboard as a daily homework assignment. Students will be held accountable for any material transmitted by e-mail or through Blackboard. 2

Grading Scale Final course grades will be assigned based on the following scale: 90% (360 points and above) 80% - 89.99% (320 – 359 points) 70% - 79.99% (280 – 319 points) 60% - 69.99% (240 – 279 points) Below 60% (Below 240 points)

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Blackboard and E-Mail Students should regularly check their official WKU e-mail and the course Blackboard website for class announcements and any online course readings. Please consider checking both your e-mail and Blackboard as a daily homework assignment. Students will be held accountable for any material transmitted by e-mail or through Blackboard. Class Attendance Class attendance will be critical for success in this course. This is particularly true of a seminar style course where class participation is an integral part of the course grade. Students are expected to attend class on a regular basis, so please do your best to attend every course. We will also occasionally discuss subjects that are not directly referenced in the assigned readings – further reason to attend class. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact me for any class handouts or assignments you may have missed. You are also responsible for getting any missed notes from another student – I will not provide class notes. If you wish to discuss the material you missed, you are welcome to come to my office hours or set up an appointment. Make-Up Exams Make-up exams will be provided to only to students who have an approved absence with the proper supporting documentation (University-sanctioned event, religious holiday, family emergency, etc.). If you are ill or have a family emergency, you must contact me within 24 hours of the start of the missed exam to notify me of your inability to take the exam. If you fail to contact me within 24 hours of the start of an exam, I reserve the right to refuse a make-up exam. If students know in advance that they must miss an exam because of a University-sectioned event, religious holiday, etc., they should contact me immediately to make arrangements for an alternative testing date. Late Work Presentations will not be accepted late under any circumstances. The course paper will be docked 10 points for each 24 hour period it is late. 3

Disability Services In compliance with university policy, students with disabilities who require academic and/or auxiliary accommodations for this course must contact Student Disability Services in Downing University Center, A-200. The phone number is 270-745-5004. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from Student Disability Services. Academic Misconduct I expect all students to abide by the rules and regulations set forth in the Western Kentucky University Student Handbook with regards to all forms of academic misconduct (cheating, plagiarism, etc.). If a student is caught committing academic misconduct, the student will receive a score of 0 for the assignment, and may be assigned a 0 for entire course. If you have any questions about what does and does not constitute academic misconduct, please speak with me. Course Schedule Note: Below is a rough schedule of class topics/events. I reserve the right to make changes to the reading list due to the flow of course discussion. I will announce any changes to the syllabus in class and post changes to the Blackboard course website. Week 1 Tuesday, January 22nd:

Introduction to the Course

Thursday, January 24th: -

On Models, Theory, Hypothesis and Methodology: A Crash Course in Social Science SEGAL AND SPAETH Chapter 2 (pp. 44-48) BAUM Chapter 1 (pp. 1-22) *Handout on reading statistical analysis

Week 2 Tuesday, January 29th: Understanding the Supreme Court SEGAL AND SPAETH Chapter 1 (pp. 1-27) *Brennan “How the Supreme Court Arrives at Decisions” Thursday, January 31st: The Importance of Legal Policy Goals BAUM Chapter 2 (pp. 23-30, 37-42) Week 3 Tuesday, February 5th: The Legal Model: Criticisms BAUM Chapter 3 (57-65, 70-83) SEGAL AND SPAETH Chapter 2 (pp. 48-66, 76-84) 4

Thursday, February 7th: -

The Legal Model: A Reply

*Gillman, “What’s Law Got to Do with It? Judicial Behavioralists Test the ‘Legal Model’ of Judicial Decision Making” **Justice Presentation: Antonin Scalia**

Week 4 Tuesday, February 12th: The Attitudinal Model SEGAL AND SPAETH Chapter 3 (pp. 86-97) *Segal and Cover “Ideological Values and the Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices” (pp. 557-561) Thursday, February 14th: Testing the Attitudinal Model SEGAL AND SPAETH Chapter 8 (pp. 312-326) *Segal and Cover “Ideological Values and the Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices” (pp. 561-563) **Justice Presentation: Anthony Kennedy** Week 5 Tuesday, February 19th: The Strategic Model BAUM Chapter 4 (pp. 89-103) EPSTEIN AND WALKER Chapter 1 (pp. 1-18) Thursday, February 21st: -

The Strategic Model: The Case of Intracourt Bargaining BAUM Chapter 4 (pp. 103-109) EPSTEIN AND WALKER Chapter 3 (pp. 56-58, 65-79) *Corely “Bargaining and Accommodation on the United States Supreme Court: Insight from Justice Blackmun.” **Justice Presentation: Clarence Thomas**

Week 6 Tuesday, February 26th: -

The Strategic Model: The Case of Opinion Assignments EPSTEIN AND WALKER Chapter 4 (pp. 125-135) *Maltzman and Wahlbeck “A Conditional Model of Opinion Assignment on the Supreme Court”

Thursday, February 28th: The Strategic Model: The Separation of Powers BAUM Chapter 4 (pp. 119-123) EPSTEIN AND WALKER Chapter 5 (pp. 138-157) **Justice Presentation: Ruth Bader Ginsburg** 5

Week 7 Tuesday, March 5th: The Limits of Strategy in Other Contexts *Hettinger et al. “Comparing Attitudinal and Strategic Accounts of Dissenting Behavior on the U.S. Courts of Appeals” *Bowie and Songer “Assessing the Applicability of Strategic Theory to Explain Decision Making on the Courts of Appeals” **Justice Presentation: Stephen Breyer** Thursday, March 7th:

MIDTERM EXAM

Week 8 Tuesday, March 12th:

NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK

Thursday, March 14th:

NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK

Week 9 Tuesday, March 19th: Nonpolicy Influences on Judicial Behavior BAUM Chapter 2 (pp. 42-55) *Schauer “Incentives, Reputation, and the Inglorious Determinants of Judicial Behavior” Thursday, March 21st: Judges and Their Audiences *Baum “Judges and Their Audiences” (Chapter 2 pp. 25-49) **Justice Presentation: Samuel Alito** Week 10 Tuesday, March 26th: Institutional Legitimacy *Clark “The Limits of Judicial Independence” (pp. 62-86) *Clark “The Separation of Powers, Court Curbing, and Judicial Legitimacy” (pp. 971-974, 976-986) Thursday, March 28th: Workload *O’Brien “A Diminished Plenary Docket” *Gizzi “Examining the Crisis of Volume in the U.S. Courts of Appeals” **Justice Presentation: Sonia Sotomayor** Week 11 Tuesday, April 2nd: The Role of the Public *Dahl “Decision-making in a Democracy: The Supreme Court as a National Policy Maker” *Caldeira “Public Opinion and the U.S. Supreme Court: FDR’s CourtPacking Plan” 6

Thursday, April 4th: The Role of the Public (cont.) *Mishler and Sheehan “The Supreme Court as a Countermajoritarian Institution? The Impact of Public Opinion on Supreme Court Decisions” *Calvin et al. “On the Relationship between Public Opinion and Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals” **Justice Presentation: Elena Kagan** Week 12 Tuesday, April 9th: Ambition and Promotion *Cohen “Explaining Judicial Behavior or What’s ‘Unconstitutional’ About the Sentencing Commission?” *Gaille “Publishing by United States Courts of Appeals Judge: Before and After the Bork Hearings” **Justice Presentation: Chief Justice John Roberts ** Thursday, April 11th:

NO CLASS – PROFESSOR ABSENT

Week 13 Tuesday, April 16th: The Role of Elections in State Courts of Last Resort *Peters “Canons, Costs and Competition in State Supreme Court Elections” *Hall “Electoral Politics and Strategic Voting in State Supreme Courts” Thursday, April 18th: The Role of Elections in Other Contexts *Huber and Gordon “Accountability and Coercion: Is Justice Blind When it Runs for Office?” *Sulzberger “Ouster of Iowa Judges Send Signal to Bench” Week 14 Tuesday, April 23rd: The Possibility of Getting Reversed *Songer et al, “Do Judges Follow the Law When there is No Fear of Reversal” *Klein and Hume, “Fear of Reversal as an Explanation of Lower Court Compliance” **PREDICTION PAPERS DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS**

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Thursday, April 25th: STUDENT CASE PRESENTATIONS *Review summary of cases to be discussed (Cases for this day to be announced) Week 15 Tuesday, April 30th: STUDENT CASE PRESENTATIONS *Review summary of cases to be discussed (Cases for this day to be announced) Thursday, May 1st: STUDENT CASE PRESENTATIONS *Review summary of cases to be discussed (Cases for this day to be announced) Finals Week Monday, May 6th:

FINAL EXAM 10:30-12:30 p.m. in 337 GRISE HALL

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