The Rule of Law in Red and Blue
Affective Polarization and Support for Legal Institutions in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6180237 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ali S Masood (0000-0003-1564-4477, Oberlin College), Ryan Strickler (0000-0002-6082-6280, Colorado State University Pueblo, corresponding author), Michael A Zilis (0000-0002-8637-8260, University of Kentucky) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 403-413 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Politics Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1532-673X • E-ISSN: 1552-3373 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1532673x241253262 |
| OpenAlex | W4398144975 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 58 |
A defining feature of democracies is an independent legal system, where elites and the public alike accept the broader legitimacy of its actions, even if they run counter to political preferences. Existing scholarship suggests that public support for rule of law institutions is rooted in perceptions of procedural fairness. However, amid increasing levels of affective polarization, we posit a partisan presidential heuristic wherein citizens’ views of legal institutions are influenced by their partisanship and signals from the president. Through multiple experiments, we demonstrate that support for two key institutions—the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice—is substantially derived from the intersection of one’s partisan identity and their partisan proximity to the president. These effects are strongest among respondents exhibiting high levels of affective partisanship. Our results suggest that in forming perceptions of the rule of law, partisan politics is increasingly competing with perceptions of procedural fairness, thereby subverting support for legal institutions in the United States
Political science · Politics · Rule of law · Chemistry · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law, Rights, and Freedoms · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Psychology
What Americans know about politics and why it matters
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
Curbing the Court
Citizens, Courts, and Confirmations
The Limits of Legitimacy
The Increasingly United States
Public Reaction to Supreme Court Decisions
Uncivil Agreement
The Legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court in a Polarized Polity
Identity Crisis
Presidential Appointments and Public Trust
Affective Polarization and Support for the U.S. Supreme Court
The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century
Is the U.S. Supreme Court's Legitimacy Grounded in Performance Satisfaction and Ideology
Generalizing from Survey Experiments Conducted on Mechanical Turk
The Stability and Durability of the US Supreme Court’s Legitimacy
Partisan Moods
Framing Support for the Supreme Court in the Aftermath of Bush v. Gore
Ideology, the Affordable Care Act Ruling, and Supreme Court Legitimacy
What Do We Measure When We Measure Affective Polarization
The role of affective orientations in promoting perceived polarization
Value extremity contributes to affective polarization in the US
Media Attention and Deliberation on the Supreme Court
Reassessing the Supreme Court
Ideology and Specific Support for the Supreme Court
Building Institutional Legitiimacy
Motivated Reasoning and Attitudes Towards Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Shattering the Myth of Legality
Linguistic Complexity, Information Processing, and Public Acceptance of Supreme Court Decisions
The Aggregated Consequences of Motivated Reasoning and the Dynamics of Partisan Presidential Approval
At the Nexus of Observational and Experimental Research
How Ideology Fuels Affective Polarization
The Differential Effects of Actual and Perceived Polarization
Can Partisan Cues Diminish Democratic Accountability
Subjects and Scholars’ Views on the Ethics of Political Science Field Experiments
Fear and Loathing across Party Lines
The Etiology of Public Support for the Supreme Court
Polarizing Cues
Partisans in Robes
All the President's Justices? The Impact of Presidential Copartisanship on Supreme Court Job Approval
Chief Justice Roberts's Health Care Decision Disrobed
On the Ideological Foundations of Supreme Court Legitimacy in the American Public
The Separation of Powers, Court Curbing, and Judicial Legitimacy
How Political Contestation Over Judicial Nominations Polarizes Americans’ Attitudes Toward the Supreme Court
Politicized Battles
Your Honor’s Misdeeds
The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States
Psychological Perspectives on Legitimacy and Legitimation
I Disrespectfully Agree
Expressive Partisanship
Does Party Trump Ideology? Disentangling Party and Ideology in America
The Dynamics of Political Control of the Bureaucracy
Democracy in America? Partisanship, Polarization, and the Robustness of Support for Democracy in the United States
How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |