Sind Bundesverfassungsrichter 'rationale Trottel'?

In: Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft: ZPol = Journal of political science, Band 24, Heft 1-2, S. 5-28

Abstract

In previous years two influential analyses of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) from the camp of empirical rational choice have launched two strong theses: Judges are influenced by their political preferences (Honnige) and act opportunistically in alignment with public opinion (Vanberg). Both theoretical models are in important parts inconsistent. In the first case the empirical support is also weak, in the second the data can be explained in a more convincing way. Adapted from the source document.