Pushback: The Political Fallout of Unpopular Supreme Court Decisions. By Dave Bridge

Extract

Much discussion in recent years has centered on the Supreme Court’s declining popular support and what this portends for institutional authority and public willingness to comply with rulings. A handful of high-profile decisions—including Obergefell v. Hodges, which involved same-sex marriage, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which reshaped abortion law—have brought the dilemma into stark focus. However, the implications of these cases and the discussion of waning judicial authority do not affect the court alone. The reverberations are much broader.

In this context, Pushback offers an interesting and timely angle. Dave Bridge eschews the singular focus on judicial authority in order to explore the implications of controversial rulings from the perspective of electoral politics. In doing so, he changes the terms of the debate about judicial authority, reframes the court as an institution that may damage the electoral prospects of dominant political coalitions, and offers many significant contributions. This is an engaging book.