Where Do Institutions Come From? Exploring the Origins of the Senate Blue Slip

Perhaps the most striking feature of the Senate's practice of advice and consent today is the deference accorded home state senators in reviewing presidential appointments to the federal bench. Although the Constitution calls for the advice and consent of the Senate body, informal norms of the Senate provide home state senators with a potential veto of nominations to fill federal judgeships within their states. One norm—senatorial courtesy—historically ensured that senators would defer to the views of the home state senator from the president's party. Another practice—the Senate “blue slip”—allocates special procedural rights to both home state senators regardless of political party. A single objection from a home state senator from either party has historically been considered sufficient to defeat confirmation of a nominee. The blue slip also allows home state senators to influence the course of nominations prospectively—encouraging presidents to heed the preferences of home state senators in selecting new federal judges.

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Is there transgender bias in the courtroom?

Employee Relations ◽

10.1108/er-11-2019-0444 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 1531-1545

Author(s):

André L. Honorée ◽

Rusty Juban

Keyword(s):

Political Party ◽

Employment Discrimination ◽

Equal Treatment ◽

District Courts ◽

Chi Square ◽

Content Type ◽

The Us ◽

Treatment Principle ◽

Federal Judges ◽

Practical Implications

PurposeThis study examines whether various judicial demographic and political characteristics have an influence on case outcomes in transgender employment discrimination cases. Specifically, it assesses whether the race, sex or political party of federal judges result in significantly different employment case outcomes for transgender employees in the US district courts.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing a legal database of all federal employment discrimination cases over the past five decades, the study ultimately identified 97 cases with transgender plaintiffs. Chi-square and frequency analyses were employed to test the hypotheses regarding the effect of race, sex and political party of federal judges on transgender employment case outcomes.FindingsThe results intimate that both the political party and sex of the judge have an effect on case outcomes. Specifically, the transgender plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases have a greater chance for success when such cases are presided before Democratic and female judges.Practical implicationsThe study's findings of significant differences in case outcomes suggest that characteristics of judges should be taken into account by potential plaintiffs and defendants, as they consider if/how to proceed with their cases.Social implicationsSuch research focuses more attention on the fair and equal treatment principle of the American judicial system due to the significant differences found in case outcomes as a result of judges' characteristics.Originality/valueNo research till date has examined the outcomes of transgender employment discrimination cases in the US despite national surveys indicating the pervasiveness and severity of such discrimination.

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Revisiting Senatorial Courtesy and the Selection of Judges to the U.S. Courts of Appeals

Political Research Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1065912920972780 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 106591292097278

Author(s):

Nicholas O. Howard ◽

David A. Hughes

Keyword(s):

Federal Courts ◽

Courts Of Appeals ◽

Lower Court ◽

Institutional Rules ◽

Home State ◽

Judicial Ideology ◽

The 1960S ◽

State Senators ◽

The U.S ◽

Selection Of

We examine how elite attitudes and institutional rules and norms affect appointments to lower federal courts. Using voting data from 1,339 U.S. Courts of Appeals cases, we estimate new ideological measures for 475 individual circuit judges appointed between 1913 and 2008. We find that both presidential and home-state senators’ preferences strongly predict judicial ideology. While we find evidence that conditions of senatorial courtesy can constrain presidents from nominating like-minded individuals for lower court vacancies, this trend peaked during the 1960s and has been eroding ever since.

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Election Poster Persuasion

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000323 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 3-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Malte Schott ◽

Jule Wolf

Keyword(s):

Political Parties ◽

Policy Evaluation ◽

Political Party ◽

Need For Cognition ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Additional Measure ◽

Political Preferences ◽

Policy Statements ◽

Voting Intentions

Abstract. We examined the effect of presenting unknown policy statements on German parties’ election posters. Study 1 showed that participants inferred the quality of a presented policy from knowledge about the respective political party. Study 2 showed that participants’ own political preferences influenced valence estimates: policy statements presented on campaign posters of liked political parties were rated significantly more positive than those presented on posters of disliked political parties. Study 3 replicated the findings of Study 2 with an additional measure of participants’ need for cognition. Need for cognition scores were unrelated to the valence transfer from political parties to policy evaluation. Study 4 replicated the findings of Studies 2 and 3 with an additional measure of participants’ voting intentions. Voting intentions were a significant predictor for valence transfer. Participants credited both their individually liked and disliked political parties for supporting the two unknown policies. However, the credit attributed to the liked party was significantly higher than to the disliked one. Study 5 replicated the findings of Studies 2, 3, and 4. Additionally, participants evaluated political clubs that were associated with the same policies previously presented on election posters. Here, a second-degree transfer emerged: from party valence to policy evaluation and from policy evaluation to club evaluation. Implications of the presented studies for policy communications and election campaigning are discussed.

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