Customer Reviews

Strategic Selection: Presidential Nomination of Supreme Court Justices from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush (Constitutionalism and Democracy)

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There are many, many books on the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, a number of which I have reviewed on Amazon. What makes this book unique in focus is that it does not examine confirmation battles in the Senate, but rather takes a step back and looks at how Presidents select the nominees that the Senate must confront. The author rejects at the outset that the primary factor working at this stage is "luck" interacting with the ideosyncratic character of Presidents. Rather, she believes that it is possible to identify key factors that play a role in the selection process, assign them a ranking of importance, and utilize this model to evaluate prospective nominees in the future. Yes, as a good political scientist (at William & Mary) the author does utilize some statistical tools and demonstrates some points through the use of charts. However, her discussion can be read with profit by the general reader (as well as professional students of the political process), and that is one of the many solid contributions of the volume.

How presidents since Hoover have been taking a strategic view of selecting nominees is one of the key points of discussion. Presidents want Justices who will implement their values and preferences; if they had their way, that would be the selection criterion right there. But of course there are other actors, such as the opposing political party, Congress, and interest groups that all have a say in the confirmation process, and therefore must be considered in the selection process to avoid rejected nominees. There is always that element of "uncertainty" that cautions presidents to think strategically. One of the most interesting topics is the author's discussion and "short lists" and their role. In an appendix the author has listed either actual or hypothesized short lists for every nomination since CJ Charles Evans Hughes.

Individual topics inlcude Congressional endorsements, the role of the White House staff versus the Department of Justice in pushing selections, and how presidents gather information about potential nominees. We come to understand why so many recent appointments have been of Court of Appeals judges. An interesting discussion focuses on how the institutionalized presidency may move the selection process partially out of the president's control. Finally, the author cogently discusses her model hypothesis factors, how she tested them, and the final results. Whether one is interested in models or not, the individual factors the author discusses greatly facilitate our understanding of the selection process. The book is supported by 9 pages of notes, an extremely helpful list of "works consulted, figures and charts. At under 200 pages, there is a tremendous amount of insight and helpful information packed into this book. The reader cannot but better understand this sometimes bizarre process after having read this fine analysis.