1. History, Function, and Organization of the Federal Judiciary 1
The Historical Context 1
The U.S. Supreme Court 3
The U.S. Courts of Appeals 13
U.S. District Courts 23
Constitutional Courts and Legislative Courts 28
The Federal Courts in the American Political System 30
Summary 33
2. Jurisdiction, Workload, and Policy-Making Boundaries 37
U.S. District Courts 37
U.S. Courts of Appeals 41
U.S. Supreme Court 43
Jurisdiction and Congressional Politics 45
Judicial Self-Restraint 47
Summary 58
3. Administrative and Staff Support in the Federal Judiciary 61
A Brief History of the Judicial Administration Movement 62
Major Administrative Support Structures 65
Personnel Support 74
Summary 86
4. The Federal Judges 89
Background Characteristics 89
Formal and Informal Qualifications 98
The Selection Process and Its Participants 102
Policy Links Between the Citizenry, the President, and the Federal Judiciary 111
The Judicial Socialization Process 121
The Retirement and Removal of Federal Judges 125
Summary 129
5. The Decision-Making Process 133
The Decision-Making Environment 133
The Legal Subculture 135
The Democratic Subculture 141
The Subcultures as Predictors 161
Summary 166
6. Decision Making: The Special Case of Collegial Courts 173
Cue Theory 174
Small-Group Analysis 176
Attitude Theory and Bloc-Formation Analysis 189
Fact Pattern Analysis 193
Summary 195
7. Implementation and Impact of Federal Judicial Policies 199
The Impact of Upper-Court Decisions on Lower Courts 200
Congressional Influences on the Implementation Process 207
Executive Influences on the Implementation Process 209
Other Implementers 212
The Impact of Judicial Policies 214
Summary 220
8. Policy Making by Federal Judges: An Attempt at Synthesis 225
The Nature of the Case or Issue 226
The Values and Orientations of the Judges 228
The Nature of the Judicial Decision-Making Process 232
The Impact of Extraneous Influences 235
Selected Bibliography 239
Index 247