
Supremely Polarizing
How Partisanship Structures Support for the Supreme Court
Cambridge University Press
Will be published approx. on 30. April 2026
Book
Hardback
96 pages
978-1-009-61347-7 (ISBN)
Description
Although the Supreme Court has historically resisted a partisan sorting out of its public legitimacy, today, Republicans and Democrats look at the Court in very different ways. This Element assembles original survey and experimental data to unpack these changes in three ways. First, the authors illustrate the powerful role that partisanship plays in shaping judicial public opinion. Second, they validate a new three-item measure of specific support and show that it reliably predicts perceptions of Supreme Court legitimacy. Finally, they introduce a new, applied measure of support for the rule of law and connect it to specific and diffuse support. Taken as a whole, their work demonstrates that large chunks of the mass public view the Supreme Court critically. Looking ahead, it is unclear whether legitimacy will rebound when citizens perceive that the balance of judicial power within the nation's High Court has fractured along party lines.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
302 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-61347-7 (9781009613477)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Matthew P. Hitt | Nicholas T. Davis
Supremely Polarizing
How Partisanship Structures Support for the Supreme Court
Book
approx. 04/2026
Elements in American Politics
€23.00
Not yet published
Content
Introduction; 1. A systems theory for changing times; 2. The sorting out of supreme court legitimacy; 3. Linking specific support to legitimacy; 4. Support for the rule of law and the supreme court; Conclusion: a fragile status Quo; Appendix; References.