Democracy and Disorder

Abstract

Considers the actions of the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore within the larger context of an emerging constitutional law of democratic politics as a systemic whole. An exploration of earlier Supreme Court constitution cases involving democratic politics focuses on the question of "judicial culture," described as historical interpretations, empirical assumptions, & normative ideals of democracy that appear to inform & influence the constitutional law of democracy. It is maintained that certain justices consistently lean toward the same side even though none of the cases examined had obvious partisan consequences. There is a point beyond explicit legal judgment where judges work on the basis of their implicit understandings of conflict, order, stability, & competition in democracy, & that is seen as the place where they have the greatest latitude to operate. Defining moments in the recent law of democracy are drawn on to shed light on images of democracy that played a role in Bush v. Gore & to emphasize that patterned responses are often the result of historical interpretations & cultural assumptions. J. Lindroth