Pushback

This week’s review provides a look at publicly contested Supreme Court decisions and their impact on voting behavior and the wider US political climate.

Posted on July 8, 2024 in Reviews of the Month

Pushback: The Political Fallout of Unpopular Supreme Court Decisions

Bridge, Dave. Missouri, 2024
388p bibl index, 9780826223036 $45.00, 9780826274984

Bridge (Baylor Univ.) provides an insightful and timely analysis of the political consequences of US Supreme Court decisions that deeply divided public opinion. He should be commended for the excellent selection of issues and level of historical detail. This volume undeniably contributes to scholarship on the role of Supreme Court decisions in electoral politics and how political parties respond to those controversial decisions, especially in the wake of the Dobbs decision. The manuscript is well written and very thought-provoking in its effort to determine which issues and conditions will produce new coalitions of voters. However, one must wonder whether this volume shows a sort of selection bias: several issues deemed consequential (namely, abortion and religious liberty) are ones that would be expected because of existing political environments prior to unpopular decisions. The reader also needs a certain level of knowledge in statistics before reading this book.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.
Reviewer: B. W. Monroe, Prairie View A&M University
Interdisciplinary Subject: Law & Society
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Political Science – U.S. Politics
Choice Issue: Jul 2024

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