Judicial Politics in Texas

In recent years, judicial elections have changed dramatically. The elections themselves have become increasingly partisan, interest group involvement in judicial races has escalated, recent court decisions have freed judicial candidates to speak more openly than ever before about their judicial ideologies, and the tenor of judicial campaigns has departed significantly from what were once low-key, sleepy affairs. This book examines the evolution of the new rough-and-tumble politics of judicial elections by focusing on Texas, a bellwether for the new judicial selection politics in America. The Texas experience illustrates what can and usually will go wrong when judges are elected, and lays the path for meaningful reforms to stem the tide of the new politics of judicial elections.

Auteur

The Authors: Kyle Cheek is Lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas, where he also received his Ph.D. in political economy. He has contributed to numerous articles and presentations on judicial politics in Texas. Anthony Champagne is Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois. He has studied judicial elections for twenty years and has written extensively about judicial selection in the United States.