Measuring Agenda Change at the Supreme Court

• In Event: New Measures in Judicial Politics

Abstract

Ideal point estimation is a mainstay of institutional research in political science. In judicial politics, the dominant approach to ideal point estimation is from Martin and Quinn (2002). Their dynamic ideal point model relies on a stable agenda assumption. Previously, this is an assumption that must be maintained. We show it can be tested. We develop a novel technique to test for agenda change and leverage the death of Justice Scalia to show that the Court's agenda is not stable over time. Substantively, our findings cast considerable doubt on the stable agenda assumption that undergirds the Martin-Quinn approach in the context of the Court.

Authors

• Ben Johnson, Penn State Law

• Logan Strother, Purdue University