Convention holds that the Supreme Court, because of its special constitutional role, can confer an element of legitimacy on a policy simply by endorsing it. In this study, we conducted an experiment to test the legitimacy-conferring effect of Court rulings on public opinion in two policy areas—affirmative action and regulation of phone rates. We found that in both cases, the Supreme Court had an impact on policy agreement and behavioral intentions that was moderated by other important variables. We conclude that the Supreme Court plays an important role in shaping public opinion and political behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adamany, D. W.
, & Grossman, J. B. (1983). Support for the Supreme Court as a National Policymaker. Law and Policy Quarterly, 5, 405-437.
2.
Aronson, E.
, Ellsworth, P. C., Carlsmith, J. M., & Gonzales, M. H. (1990). Methods of research in social psychology (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
3.
Baas, L. R.
, & Thomas, D. (1984). The Supreme Court and policy legitimation: Experimental tests. American Politics Quarterly, 12, 335-360.
4.
Caldeira, G. A.
(1986). Neither the Purse Nor the Sword: Dynamics of Public Confidence in the Supreme Court. American Political Science Review, 80, 1209-1226.
5.
Caldeira, G. A.
(1991). Courts and public opinion. In J. B. Gates & C. A. Johnson (Eds.), American courts: A critical assessment (pp. 303-334). Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Books.
6.
Campbell, A.
, Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E. & Stokes, D. E. (1960). The American voter. New York: John Wiley.
7.
Campbell, Donald T.
, & Stanley, J. C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
8.
Conover, P. J.
, & Feldman, S. (1981). The origins and meaning of liberal/conservative self-identifications. American Journal of Political Science, 25, 617-645.
9.
Converse, P. E.
(1964). The nature of belief systems in mass publics. In D. E. Apter (Ed.), Ideology and discontent (pp. 206-261). New York: Free Press.
10.
Cook, F. L.
, & Barrett, E. J. (1992). Support for the American Welfare State. New York: Columbia University Press.
11.
Dolbeare, K. M.
, & Hammond, P. E. (1970). Inertia in midway: Supreme Court decisions and local response. Journal of Legal Education, 23, 106-122.
12.
Eagly, A.
, & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
13.
Franklin, C. H.
, & Kosaki, L.C. (1989). Republican school master: The U.S. Supreme Court, public opinion, and abortion. American Political Science Review, 83, 751-771.
14.
Franklin, C. H.
, & Kosaki, L. C. (1995). Media, knowledge, and public evaluations of the Supreme Court. In L. Epstein (Ed.), Contemplating courts (pp. 352-375). Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Books.
15.
Gibson, J. L.1989. Understandings of justice: Institutional legitimacy, procedural justice, and political tolerance. Law and Society Review, 23, 469-496.
16.
Hoekstra, V. J.
(1995). The Supreme Court and opinion change: An experimental study of the court's ability to change opinion. American Politics Quarterly, 23, 109-129.
17.
Hoekstra, V. J.
, & Segal, J. A. (1996). The shepherding of local opinion: The Supreme Court and Lamb's Chapel. Journal of Politics, 58, 1079-1102.
18.
Jaros, D.
, & Roper, R. (1980). The U.S. Supreme Court: Myth, diffuse support, specific support, and legitimacy. American Politics Quarterly, 8, 85-105.
19.
Johnson, T. R.
, & Martin, A. D. (1998). The public's conditional response to Supreme Court decisions. American Political Science Review, 92, 299-309.
20.
Kinder, D. R.
, & Sanders, L. M. (1996). Divided by color. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
21.
Marshall, T.
(1989). Public opinion and the Supreme Court. New York: Longman.
22.
Mondak, J. J.
(1990). Perceived legitimacy of Supreme Court decisions: Three functions of source credibility. Political Behavior, 12, 363-384.
23.
Mondak, J. J.
(1992). Institutional legitimacy, policy legitimacy, and the Supreme Court. American Politics Quarterly, 20, 457-477.
24.
Mondak, J. J.
(1994). Policy legitimacy and the Supreme Court: The sources and contexts of legitimation. Political Research Quarterly, 47, 675-692.
25.
Mondak, J. J.
, & Smithey, S. I. (1997). The dynamics of public support for the Supreme Court. Journal of Politics, 59, 1114-1142.
26.
Murphy, W. F.
, & Tanenhaus, J. (1968). Public opinion and the United States Supreme Court: A preliminary mapping for some prerequisites for court legitimation of regime changes. Law and Society Review, 2, 357-382.
27.
Nelson, T. E.
, & Kinder, D. R. (1996). Issue frames and group-centrism in American public opinion. Journal of Politics, 58, 1055-1078.
28.
Rodgers, H.
, & Bullock, C., III. (1972). Law and social change: Civil rights laws and their consequences. New York: McGraw-Hill.
29.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (1999). Available online: http://www.census/gov/population/estimates/state
30.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census
. (1993). Statistical abstract of the United States, 1993: The national data book. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
31.
Ulmer, S. S.
(1971). Earl Warren and the Brown decision. Journal of Politics, 33, 689-702.
32.
Weisberg, H. F.
, Krosnick, J. A., & Bowen, B. D. (1989). An introduction to survey research and data analysis (2nd ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company.
33.
Zanna, M. P.
, & Rempel, J. K. (1988). Attitudes: A new look at an old concept. In D. Bar-Tal & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), The social psychology of knowledge (pp. 315-334). New York: Cambridge University Press.
