Publication Date

2020

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Pickerill, J. Mitchell

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Political Science

Abstract

The study of ideological polarization continues to be an important topic for scholars of behavioral research to scholars of institutional politics. Polarization has not received as much attention in the context of the Supreme Court, yet polarization has begun to play a role in how the Supreme Court is shaped through the nomination process and is likely to continue in its practice. Compared to past Courts, the justices on the Court today are through party and ideology. This paper seeks to answer the question: has the voting behavior of Supreme Court justices over time in abortion and sex discrimination cases changed as a result of polarization and the increased number of female justices? To do this, a measure of ideology employed by Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn, known as Martin-Quinn Scores is used. The scores show the relative location of where U.S. Supreme Court justices fall on the ideological continuum. To analyze what influences the justices’ ideological scores, I analyzed several variables, such as their gender, their ideology, the president’s party who nominated them, and the majority of the Senate who confirmed them. Finally, I analyzed the case outcomes and the effect ideology played in abortion and sex discrimination cases. The results show ideology prevails over time and the increase in women on the Court does as well.

Extent

44 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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