Representative Decision Making on the Federal Bench: Clinton's District Court Appointees

Abstract

President Clinton, like Carter before him, has made a concerted effort to appoint women and minorities to the federal bench in an effort to make the courts appear representative of American society. The question remains, does this symbolic representation translate into substantive or policy representation on the bench? This analysis is based on data colected about pairs of Clinton's district court appointees who are similar in a number of respects but different in their race or gender. The rulings by these pairs, made in cases involving a number of issues expected to preent racial and gender differences, were compared to determine whether Clinton's nontraditional district court judges provided substantive as well as symbolic representation. The results indicate that these judges do not provide policy representation to their respective groups, nor do they appear particularly liberal or activist, as many of Clinton's political oppnents have alleged.