Course Description
Are judges affected by institutions around them and if so, how much? This class acts as an
introduction to judicial politics and behavior in all types of courts: from the Supreme Court to
other appellate courts, civil courts, trial courts, and state courts. To what degree ar...
POLI4023: Judicial Politics
Fall 2021
TTH 1:30-2:50 p.m., 201 Williams Hall
Dr. Anna Gunderson
agunderson@lsu.edu
Office: 208-B Stubbs Hall
Office Hours: TTH, 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Zoom or by appointment
(https://calendly.com/agunderson/30min)
Course Description
Are judges affected by institutions around them and if so, how much? This class acts as an
introduction to judicial politics and behavior in all types of courts: from the Supreme Court to
other appellate courts, civil courts, trial courts, and state courts. To what degree are judges
constrained by other institutions, like the legislature or executive branch, or the public?
Additionally, how do these institutional constraints interact with personal characteristics of
judges to produce variation in judicial outcomes?
This class engages directly with theoretical and empirical material to answer the above questions,
meaning that we will often read academic articles and books. This material can be difficult to get
through, but it will provide a thorough analysis of how the judiciary is shaped and shapes a
variety of other institutions. I expect you to thoroughly read and engage with that week's readings
and you will need to do so in order to succeed in this course.
Required Materials
The assigned book in this class is Judicial Decision-Making: A Coursebook (abbreviated JDM
below) by Barry Friedman, Andrew Martin, Margaret Lemos, Tom Clark, Alison Larson, and
Anna Harvey.
20% of your grade is determined by completion and success on weekly quizzes. Throughout the
semester, we will have a quiz about once a week (see dates on syllabus below). These quizzes
will each be worth 10 points and will be available either in-class (dates noted) or on Moodle,
, open from the end of the previous class period to the next class period. Once you begin, you
have 10 minutes to complete the quiz. You will automatically receive 5 points (50%) if you
POLI4023, Fall 2021
complete the quiz. In total, there will be 10 quizzes and I will drop the two lowest grades. There
are no make-ups.
25% of your grade is determined from two graded paper reflections. Over the course of the
semester, there are five journal articles listed that relate to that week's readings. You may choose
any two of these articles to write a thoughtful paper reflection that is approximately 3-5
doublespaced pages (rubric posted on Moodle). You must write one BEFORE Thursday, October
141 and one AFTER Thursday, October 14.2 In this reflection, you will be expected to include a
few things: a) a summary of the readings (what did they seek to study, why, what did they find);
b) implications of the readings (what do we know now that we didn't know before, and how does
it inform what we have already read or discussed); c) new questions that arise out of these
readings (what should be studied next); d) any remaining questions you have and critiques you
have for the article's argument or research design (did they study what they set out to? Are you
convinced of their argument, from their theory and research design? Why or why not? What
would make the paper better?); and e) how the paper relates to our class topics thus far in the
course. These reflections will be due to me via Moodle or email, by the start of class that the
article is assigned to. I will go over the articles briefly in class (in preparation for the final exam;
see below) and those who completed the assignment for that week are expected to participate in a
discussion about the paper.
25% of your grade is determined by a midterm exam on Thursday, October 14. This exam will
contain multiple choice, short answer, true-or-false, matching, and essay questions.
30% of your grade is determined by a final exam on Saturday, December 11 from 12:30-2:30
p.m. This exam will contain both multiple choice and short answer questions, as well as
questions on any of the five journal articles assigned throughout the course of the semester. It is
not cumulative.
Grade Scales
At the end of the semester, I will consider “bump-ups” for students who are within 1% of the
next highest final grade. In determining whether to grant a “bump-up”, I will consider
demonstrated effort throughout the semester, improvement throughout the semester, engagement
in the course (as demonstrated through attendance, attentiveness, and participation),
communication with the instructor, and responsiveness to feedback. There is no guaranteed
rounding in this course.
1
This means you either need to write a reflection on either Glynn and Sen (2015) or Baird (2004).
2
This means you need to write a reflection on either Haire, Lindquist, and Songer (2003); Carrubba, Friedman,
Martin, and Vanberg (2012); or Caldarone, Canes-Wrone, and Clark (2009).
2
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