The Impact of Judicial Activism on Public Opinion

This research note explores the impact of judicial activism on public opinion by examining citizen evaluations of a state court system deeply involved in a highly political controversy. Data are derived from four surveys of New Jersey citizens conducted at different stages of the controversy. The note first appraises the prominence of the state supreme court and gauges the degree of public approval, and then it identifies and analyzes the correlates of the affective attitudes. The study is guided by familiar hypotheses from the empirical analysis of public support for the United States Supreme Court.