Authors Meet Critics:Collins & Eshbaugh-Soha’s The President & the Supreme Court

Session Submission Type: Author meet critics

Session Description

This Authors Meet Critics roundtable brings together a diverse group of scholars to reflect on Paul Collins and Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha’s "The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump." The scholars on this panel study the presidency, the courts, and the intersection of the two from a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.

The book argues that, when presidents take positions on pending Supreme Court cases or criticize the Court’s decisions, they are susceptible to being attacked for acting as bullies and violating the norm of judicial independence. Why then do presidents target Supreme Court decisions in their public appeals? Collins and Eshbaugh-Soha argue that presidents discuss the Court’s decisions to demonstrate their responsiveness to important matters of public policy and to steer the implementation of the Court’s decisions. Using data from Washington to Trump, they show that, far from being bullies, presidents discuss cases to promote their reelection, policy goals, and historical legacies, while attempting to affect the impact of Court decisions on the bureaucracy, Congress, the media, and the public.

Sub Unit

• Division 23: Presidents and Executive Politics

Cosponsor

• Division 26: Law and Courts

Chair

• Diane J. Heith St. John's University

Presenters

• Lisa M. Holmes University of Vermont

• Gbemende Johnson Hamilton College

• Brandon Rottinghaus University of Houston

• Paul M. Collins University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha University of North Texas