The Pioneers of Judicial Behavior

by Nancy L. Maveety (Editor)

In The Pioneers of Judicial Behavior, prominent political scientists critically examine the contributions to the field of public law of the pioneering scholars of judicial C. Hermann Pritchett, Glendon Schubert, S. Sidney Ulmer, Harold J. Spaeth, Joseph Tanenhaus, Beverly Blair Cook, Walter F. Murphy, J. Woodward Howard, David J. Danelski, David Rohde, Edward S. Corwin, Alpheus Thomas Mason, Robert G. McCloskey, Robert A. Dahl, and Martin Shapiro.
Unlike past studies that have traced the emergence and growth of the field of judicial studies, The Pioneers of Judicial Behavior accounts for the emergence and exploration of three current theoretical approaches to the study of judicial behavior--attitudinal, strategic, and historical-institutionalist--and shows how the research of these foundational scholars has contributed to contemporary debates about how to conceptualize judges as policy makers. Chapters utilize correspondence of and interviews with some early scholars, and provide a format to connect the concerns and controversies of the first political scientists of law and courts to contemporary challenges and methodological debates among today's judicial scholars. The volume's purpose in looking back is to look to contribute to an ecumenical research agenda on judicial decision making, and, ultimately, to the generation of a unified, general theory of judicial behavior.
The Pioneers of Judicial Behavior will be of interest to graduate students in the law and courts field, political scientists interested in the philosophy of social science and the history of the discipline, legal practitioners and researchers, and political commentators interested in academic theorizing about public policy making.
Nancy L. Maveety is Associate Professor of Political Science, Tulane University.

448 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2002

Reviews

[Michael Griswold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Currently using this book for a graduate seminar on Judicial Behavior. This book is really a must have and read for the graduate student who has little to no experience in the field of judicial behavior. My professor uses this book in combination with a variety of articles and book chapters who have chapters written about them in this book like C. Hermann Pritchett, Jeffery Spaeth, Walter Murphy, among others. Without the clear, direct writing style used by the various authors that outline the scholarly contributions, accomplishments, and central theories articulated by these legends of judicial behavior research, I fear that many of these brilliant observations of judicial behavior would get lost or buried under the brilliant rhetorical flourishes and quantitative theories that often dot a great deal of political science research within the field these days. It is after all, only after we understand a theory can we create beautiful models and equations that are so prized.