College
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Date of Last Revision
2026-11-02 08:24:49
Major
Political Science
Honors Course
POLIT 497
Number of Credits
3
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2026
Abstract
The United States Supreme Court plays a central role in shaping constitutional meaning and national policy through its landmark decisions. While justices are expected to decide cases based on legal reasoning and precedent, extensive scholarship suggests that ideological beliefs influence judicial behavior. This honors project examines how United States Supreme Court justices’ ideological beliefs influence landmark constitutional decisions through a critical review of existing scholarship. This project synthesizes political science and legal research on judicial ideology to assess how ideological orientations shape decision making across the Warren, Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts Courts. By integrating qualitative analyses of landmark cases with longitudinal perspectives found in the literature, this review demonstrates that ideology consistently influences judicial behavior, though its expression varies across historical contexts. The analysis highlights how ideology shapes not only case outcomes, but also agenda control and the distribution of governmental power, underscoring its enduring impact on American democracy.
Research Sponsor
Dr. Phillip Marcin
First Reader
Dr. Rebecca Erickson
Second Reader
Dr. Ron Gelleny
Honors Faculty Advisor
Dr. Ron Gelleny
Proprietary and/or Confidential Information
No
Community Engaged Scholarship
No
Recommended Citation
Nichols, Marina, "Ideology and Judicial Behavior: How United States Supreme Court Justices’ Beliefs Influence Landmark Decisions" (2026). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 2246.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/2246