Partisan Court : The Era of Political Partisanship on the U.S. Supreme Court

Drawing on new data and case analyses, Ryan J. Rebe provides substantial evidence that justices vote their partisan preferences on election law cases.
By focusing specifically on election law, Rebe reveals a consistent pattern of partisanship on the Court. The findings controvert popular perceptions of non-biased decision-making and notions of fundamental fairness. The aggregate analysis shows that justices vote along party-lines in a majority of election law cases, and consensus-building is rare when there is a contentious electoral issue at stake. Exploring topics such as gerrymandering, campaign finance, voter ID laws, and presidential immunity, Rebe demonstrates that Supreme Court decisions often conflict with principles of stare decisis, originalism, and judicial restraint. Rebe also conducts a content analysis of the most controversial election law cases of the past twenty-five years, including Crawford v. Marion County, Citizens United v. FEC, Shelby County v. Holder, and Trump v. United States. In doing so, the book provides a thorough overview of over two decades of election law cases and sheds light on the ways these cases have reshaped America’s electoral institutions.