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The structure of the federal court system
Methods of selecting judge
Civics chapter 12 federal court system
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1 – There are five main methods of judicial selection that are used in the United States. These methods include: partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, legislative elections, gubernatorial appointment, and merit selection. Partisan election is where the judges are put on a ballot with the information of their political party being disclosed. Nonpartisan elections do not distinguish between political party affiliation. Legislative elections are where instead of the public or governor voting, the state legislators vote and choose the judges they want to serve. Gubernatorial appointment is, in essence, where the Governor of a state either A. Chooses a judge for an initial term. B. Selects a judge to fill a vacancy. or C. To retain a judge to serve an additional term. Finally, merit …show more content…
A benefit to the nonpartisan election model is 1. It avoids the voters being blinded by the party affiliation, and 2. They do not attract as much funding from donors to tip the scale in favor of a political party.
A disadvantage to this model of selection is that it could still end up being political. If their affiliation is not put on the ballot, in campaigns it could be issue-based and voters will derive conclusions from that.
A benefit to the legislative is that they were created so there is not one authority figure has too much power.
A disadvantage is they simply do not work well whenever the legislature is so vastly different politically.
An advantage to the gubernatorial appointment model is they protect the independence of the judiciary. This model gets rid of political campaigns and insures that the selection process will be free from corruption.
A disadvantage to this model of selection is the fact that voters do not have a direct choice in the appointment
A direct consequence of partisan elections is extremely referred to the limited variation in the share of the vote delivered by judicial candidates. Thus, the majority of Texas judges are elected in accordance with their legal qualifications and not with their own campaign
In conclusion, partisan elections are hindering the election process for judges. The cost of partisan elections is more money than nonpartisan elections. partisan elections are more likely to lead to straight ticket voting, which can cause mindless voting or flawed voting. Partisan elections lead to more campaign contributions and can cause constituencies to interfere. Finally, partisan elections do not equally represent the population. Therefore, partisan elections are inferring and hinder the Texas judge positions more than nonpartisan
The authors describe some of the advantages of a MMP system: “Mixed electoral systems provide fairly proportional outcomes, maintain the geographic link between constituents and members, provide for greater choice, and allow the opportunity for smaller parties to represented in Parliament” (p. 11). This system works better than the current FPTP or plurality system, because it allows citizen’s a second opportunity to have a voice. This is important because it would allow our minority groups to have a greater political influence. As mentioned earlier, in the current system all votes for candidates who lost, were insignificant to the election outcome. The authors explain: “Only those votes that go to the eventual winner count towards electing a representative, which may discourage people from voting or promote disaffection with the system” (p. 3). Alternatively, the MMP system allows citizen’s a second opportunity to elect party members in order to proportionally represent the popular
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges are elected in nonpartisan statewide elections. Mid-term vacancices are filled by appointment. State law requires that nominees are state residents and have practiced law for a minimum of seven years.
Proportional representation is almost always acknowledged as the fairest electoral system. With this in mind, many still reject a mixed member proportional system. Critics argue that the current method has produced a stable and effective government, while MMP would create an ineffective government. Wiseman feels that since Canada has been consistently stable, our electoral system does not need to be changed. Hiemstra and Jansen disagree with the plurality system that is currently in place for it does not produce fair representation and devalues citizen’s votes. Canadians must make a choice between the value of effectiveness and the values of justice and equity. Although a switch is not anticipated in the near future, Canadian citizens can hope that it is at least in the minds of many voters and on the discussion list of the government.
The strategic model acknowledges that judges seek to achieve policy goals, but it also acknowledges that they are subject to certain restrictions in doing so. Since they cannot act accordingly to preference, they must act strategically to achieve their goals given by the restrictions. It argues that like politicians, justices make their decisions based off other’s decisions or make their decisions while trying to determine how another person will react from it. This decision style says justices would base their decisions on the influence of other justices.
Certain candidates will get elected rather than other candidates due to them having more education, better campaign resources provided, money, benefactors, wealth, etc. Also there is also intentionally improper districting which leads to improper representation, and huge advantages to certain
...ies. Depending on the states’ political culture, the judge is elected through popular election either with partisan or nonpartisan elections. The political culture of the state affects the judges’ capabilities to make decisions. Judges are to uphold strict interpretation based on past precedent but it is difficult with social pressure. For example, moralistic Massachusetts passed civic unions for gays, however, in traditionalistic state Georgia would likely deny gay rights.
One of the advantages is that the voters select the candidates for political office, not the party
At least people will have a knowledge about the candidate and they can decide who is right candidate for them. If they elect the unqualified people, the price of the ramification is to pay by the same people who voted for that candidate. Just for saving a time if people are preferring straight ticket voting and then I think it is not a wise idea to elect right and suitable candidate. If there is no STV the lines will become incredibly long, as voters will take more time in choosing all their preferred candidates, and there need to be an extra voting machine to count a ballot, but still for long run people will get the wise candidate, so they can avoid the consequences. “One obvious problem with straight-ticket voting is that the parties don’t really vet their candidates. The people at the tops of the tickets have been through the wringer; you might not like them or support them, but you know most everything about them. That’s not the case down the ballot. Dallas County elected a Democrat to its top job — county judge — a few years ago and nobody in the party initially knew who he was. He was, among other things, a beneficiary of the straight ticket.” (texastribune) There are several pros and cons out there. The pros are here to convince those people who are lazy, least informed voters. They do not care about the candidate, if that candidate is the suitable one or like Steve
Judges decide the fate of others on a daily basis, from dismissing speeding tickets, to sentencing a serial killer. These decisions effect how the public views the criminal justice system and how the public views particular judges, therefore, judicial selection methods continue to be a much debated topic. There are currently three common methods of judicial selection: the federal system of appointment, popular elections, and merit selection (commonly known as the Missouri Plan). These three methods each have their own unique set of pros and cons. The articles I chose examined the different systems with the majority of their focus on the merit selection process and the partisan election process and how they affect the accountability of the
Whether a judge should be elected or appointed has been a topic for discussion since the creation of a judicial system. Depending on what side of the decision one may be on, there are some challenges that arise from each side. If a judge is elected, will he be judicious in his decision based on the law or based on his constituents? If the judge is appointed, will he be subject to the authority that appointed him, thereby slanting his decision to keep favor of the executive or legislator that appointed him? Mandatory retirement is also a question that brings about challenges. How old is too old? When does a judge become ineffective based on their age?
Political parties more often than not fail to perform their duties effectively or with adequate credibility. A number of parties are essentially weak and depend immensely on the personal appeal of their leader. The best-fit candidate does not frequently occupy political office solely based on the fact that candidate selection is grounded on nepotism rather than on merit. These shortcomings are very much impacting how not only political leaders are elected, but as well as the nation’s function of
...e. Yet, in other political systems such as in the U.S., candidates must appeal to other voters that may not affiliate with their particular party as well in order to garner enough votes to win an election.
...d others use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons more likely to succeed in the job(s), given management goals and legal requirements, Scott et al. (1989).