Doctoral Dissertation Research. The Supreme Court and Public Opinion: Exploring Diffuse Support and the Role of Values

University Of South Carolina At Columbia, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

This project explores the role of values in determining individuals' diffuse support for the Supreme Court. Implementing an experimental survey design, the PI will measure diffuse support for political institutions with feeling thermometers. The following values will be examined: liberty, equality, morality and social order. Some individuals, it is hypothesized, will prefer a decision reflecting one value, whereas others will prefer a decision reflecting another value. The research protocol will test whether the value frame influences diffuse support for the Court by measuring support for the Court after administering the hypothetical scenario and assessing whether or not it has fluctuated over the course of the experiment.