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Executives Strike Back: Political Benefits of Sanctioning the U.S. Supreme Court

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2024

Matthew D. Montgomery Open the ORCID record for Matthew D. Montgomery [Opens in a new window] ,
Natalie C. Rogol Open the ORCID record for Natalie C. Rogol [Opens in a new window]  and
Anna McCaghren Fleming Open the ORCID record for Anna McCaghren Fleming [Opens in a new window]
Matthew D. Montgomery*
Affiliation:
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Natalie C. Rogol
Affiliation:
Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA
Anna McCaghren Fleming
Affiliation:
Mercer University, Macon, GA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Matthew D. Montgomery; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Recently there have been extraordinary instances of public and political elite complaints toward the Supreme Court. Through a survey experiment, we find that when respondents read that a copartisan executive is offended by recent Supreme Court decisions and threatening to ignore future decisions, respondents increase their support of executives’ not complying with and going public against the Court. Additionally, we find that partisans reward candidates by voting for them at higher rates if they ignore a Court decision that harmed the participant’s party. Our findings hold implications for continued institutional arrangements and our understanding of the functioning of our democracy.

Keywords

Executive-JudicialRelationshipJudicialLegitimacySanctionsPublicSupport Noncompliance
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , October 2024 , pp. 275 - 302
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association

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Footnotes

*

Authors equally contributed to this project.

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