The Concept of Judicial Role

A Methodological Note

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7236014
AutoresVictor Eugene Flango, Lettie Mcspadden Wenner, Manfred W Wenner
Año1975
Volumen19
Número2
Páginas277-277
Fecha de publicación1975-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/2110437
OpenAlexW2335211033
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas5

Previous studies of concept of judicial role have suggested a variety of answers to question of number of dimensions underlying this concept. This study suggests that at least two clearly distinguishable dimensions: judges' orientations toward precedent, and toward public they serve, are involved. These two dimensions were combined to yield four ideal role types in order to facilitate comparison with previous studies. There are indications that there are other important dimensions to judicial role and that additional effort is required to further clarify this concept. The concept of role is certainly not a new one in social sciences, although it has come into prominence only recently in political science. Because judges are perhaps most role conscious of all off'icials, there is reason to believe that role analysis will prove to be extremely useful in understanding behavior of judges. Some researchers have in fact described a judge's perception of his role to be chief characteristic that distinguishes judges from other political decisionmakers. Becker (1964, pp. 13-26) called role the major independent variable in judicial equation and Dolbeare (1967, p. 69) said the way in which a judge conceives his judicial role is most significant single factor in whole decisional process. While role analysis promises to be potentially most comprehensive explanation of judicial decisionmaking, it is also most ambiguous because role has been defined in so many different ways (Goldman and Jahnige, 1971, p. 189

Epistemology · Ideal (ethics · Judicial opinion · Order (exchange · Perception · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Educational, Social, and Political Issues · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology