The Partisan Foundations of Attitudes Towards State Supreme Courts

Abstract

State supreme courts have become increasingly salient as the U.S. Supreme Court has deferred more politically contentious questions to the states. Yet, despite growing scholarly attention to state high courts, we know relatively little about how the public evaluates them. We argue that perception of a state court’s partisan composition is an important factor shaping public attitudes. Using a nationally representative survey, we find that individuals who believe their state supreme court has more in-party justices feel better represented, view the court’s decision-making as more grounded in legal formalism, and rate the court as more legitimate. Conversely, perceiving more out-party justices is associated with feeling less represented, stronger belief in legal realism, and lower legitimacy ratings. These findings contribute to the literature on state courts by showing that perceptions of partisan makeup are central to understanding how the public evaluates state supreme courts.