Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment
Although judicial elections are considered a method of keeping state courts—otherwise insulated from public pressure—accountable, the private financing of judicial campaigns has been met with significant criticism. In particular, the perception that campaign contributions can buy favorable case outc...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Research & Politics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231180357 |
| _version_ | 1797815385947373568 |
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| author | Tiger Bjornlund Alyx Mark |
| author_facet | Tiger Bjornlund Alyx Mark |
| author_sort | Tiger Bjornlund |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although judicial elections are considered a method of keeping state courts—otherwise insulated from public pressure—accountable, the private financing of judicial campaigns has been met with significant criticism. In particular, the perception that campaign contributions can buy favorable case outcomes for contributors to judicial candidates may pose problems for judicial legitimacy. While some scholars and advocacy groups have advanced proposals which seek to eliminate private financing from judicial elections, research has yet to demonstrate a link between the public’s evaluations of a court’s legitimacy and the campaign financing system the state employs. In this paper, we present the results of a survey experiment that examines the public’s evaluations of judicial legitimacy under different campaign financing schemes. We find evidence supportive of our core hypothesis: respondents viewed courts with publicly financed elections as more legitimate than those with privately financed elections. This study helps to reinforce the viability of public financing by empirically demonstrating that the public views a state supreme court elected using the public financing model as more legitimate and less susceptible to donor pressure than one selected using privately financed models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:21:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa86480851444cb4a0ff976ff72a009d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-1680 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:21:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Research & Politics |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa86480851444cb4a0ff976ff72a009d2023-05-31T07:03:45ZengSAGE PublishingResearch & Politics2053-16802023-05-011010.1177/20531680231180357Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experimentTiger BjornlundAlyx MarkAlthough judicial elections are considered a method of keeping state courts—otherwise insulated from public pressure—accountable, the private financing of judicial campaigns has been met with significant criticism. In particular, the perception that campaign contributions can buy favorable case outcomes for contributors to judicial candidates may pose problems for judicial legitimacy. While some scholars and advocacy groups have advanced proposals which seek to eliminate private financing from judicial elections, research has yet to demonstrate a link between the public’s evaluations of a court’s legitimacy and the campaign financing system the state employs. In this paper, we present the results of a survey experiment that examines the public’s evaluations of judicial legitimacy under different campaign financing schemes. We find evidence supportive of our core hypothesis: respondents viewed courts with publicly financed elections as more legitimate than those with privately financed elections. This study helps to reinforce the viability of public financing by empirically demonstrating that the public views a state supreme court elected using the public financing model as more legitimate and less susceptible to donor pressure than one selected using privately financed models.https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231180357 |
| spellingShingle | Tiger Bjornlund Alyx Mark Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment Research & Politics |
| title | Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_full | Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_fullStr | Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_short | Public campaign financing’s effects on judicial legitimacy: Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_sort | public campaign financing s effects on judicial legitimacy evidence from a survey experiment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231180357 |
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