The Evolving View of the Law and Judicial Decision‐Making
Title
The Evolving View of the Law and Judicial Decision‐Making
Author
D'Elia‐Kueper, Justine
Segal, Jeffrey A.
Research Area
Social Institutions
Topic
Legal Institutions
Abstract
Attitudinalists and legal realists initially saw the law, not as something that constrained judges, but rather as a nuisance that judges could easily avoid in order to make decisions consistent with their personal policy preferences. As the study of law and judicial decision‐making has evolved, however, scholars are beginning to realize that judges may actually use the law to help them secure their most favored outcomes (Bueno de Mesquita & Stephenson, 2002; Hansford & Spriggs, 2006). As scholarship on the law and judicial decision‐making continues to evolve a key issue going forward will be how to measure the law. Text‐based analysis and citation analysis are promising new approaches in this regard.