The Politicization of the American Judiciary: Practical and Theoretical Consequences of a Partisan Supreme Court

The Federalist Society, acting as a Political Epistemic Network, has effectively employed a long-term strategy to engineer a Supreme Court that propagates conservative legal ideology. The organizational structure of the Federalist Society finds, recruits, and retain members who will wield the organizational strategies of the organizations to achieve policy outcomes not just for members of the organization, but for the greater population. This thesis demonstrates a clear relationship between the long-term ideological and institutional influence of the Federalist Society and the U.S. Supreme Court. This significant relationship poses a fundamental threat to the execution of equal protection under the law and an erosion of democratic norms. This thesis proposes possible legislative and constitutional remedies to counter the increasing polarization of the Supreme Court, including proposed reforms such as term limits and restructuring the court which could make inroads to promoting neutrality on the Court and re-establishing a greater degree of public trust.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Department dc:contributor.department

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Wilson, Tara Elaine

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Plotica, Luke Philip

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Scerri, Andrew J.
• Moore, Wayne D.

• Supreme Court
• Partisanship
• The Federalist Society
• Originalism
• Robert's Court
• Court Reform

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:35941

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/113066