Public Reaction to Supreme Court Decisions

In The Supreme Court and Local Public Opinion, Valerie Hoekstra looks at reactions to Supreme Court decisions in the local communities where the controversies began. She finds considerable media coverage of these cases and a highly informed local populace. While the rulings did not have a significant impact on how citizens felt about the issues in these cases, the rulings did have an important effect on how citizens felt about the Court. The evidence Hoekstra uses comes from a series of two-wave panel studies conducted prior to and following the Supreme Court's decisions. This book provides important insights into how the public learns about Supreme Court decisions and how support for the Court is incrementally gained and lost as it announces its decisions.

"Hoekstra's...research design is excellent. Her review of the relevant literature is insightful and intelligent. She uses an inter-disciplinary approach that demonstrates good understanding of the relevant social psychology, political psychology, and persuasion literature and she understands that substance and theory are as important as methodology." Law and Politics Book Review