<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Given President Donald Trump’s generally non-deferential posture towards national political and governing institutions, why hasn’t his administration produced greater tension with respect to judges, courts, and established norms of judicial independence? Increased politicization of the judiciary, deepening partisanship, and distinct attributes of the President himself all seem to set up a climate of interbranch confrontation likely to challenge judicial independence norms. But at least in the first two years of this presidency, sustained opposition to courts is not evident. This analysis documents and accounts for this puzzle, ultimately contending that the President’s unexpected (and admittedly fragile) institutional comity can be traced to his personal history of relying on legal safeguards and authority as well as a complex stew of partisan and ideological uncertainty about the future direction of courts.</p></abstract>

Given President Donald Trump’s generally non-deferential posture towards national political and governing institutions, why hasn’t his administration produced greater tension with respect to judges, courts, and established norms of judicial independence? Increased politicization of the judiciary, deepening partisanship, and distinct attributes of the President himself all seem to set up a climate of interbranch confrontation likely to challenge judicial independence norms. But at least in the first two years of this presidency, sustained opposition to courts is not evident. This analysis documents and accounts for this puzzle, ultimately contending that the President’s unexpected (and admittedly fragile) institutional comity can be traced to his personal history of relying on legal safeguards and authority as well as a complex stew of partisan and ideological uncertainty about the future direction of courts.

The Curious Incident of Trump and the Courts: Interbranch Deference in an Age of Populism

British Journal of American Legal Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Given President Donald Trump’s generally non-deferential posture towards national political and governing institutions, why hasn’t his administration produced...

The Curious Incident of Trump and the Courts: Interbranch Deference in an Age of Populism

Pubblicato online: 31 dic 2018

Pagine: 237 - 256

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2018-0011

Parole chiave
Comity, Federal Courts, Judicial Independence, Judicial Politics, Partisanship, Populism, Separation of Powers, Trump

© 2018 Bruce G. Peabody, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Curious Incident of Trump and the Courts: Interbranch Deference in an Age of Populism

Pubblicato online: 31 dic 2018

Pagine: 237 - 256

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2018-0011

Parole chiaveComity, Federal Courts, Judicial Independence, Judicial Politics, Partisanship, Populism, Separation of Powers, Trump

© 2018 Bruce G. Peabody, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Parole chiave
Comity, Federal Courts, Judicial Independence, Judicial Politics, Partisanship, Populism, Separation of Powers, Trump