In his joint article with Oleg Smirnov, "Drift, Draft, or Drag: How the Supremes React to New Members," Smith takes an even closer look at the Supreme Court and the history of its political (or interpretive) makeup. Specifically, these authors find that the Court counter-balances changes to its ideological makeup through the addition of new members by changes in the overall interpretative stances of opposing justices -- the addition of more liberal justices results in conservative justices becoming more conservative, and the addition of conservative justices leads to more liberal thinking on the part of liberal justices. This view sees the Supreme Court and courts in general as an essentially political body, just like any other political body at work in the federal government or at other levels of government within any given society, whether past or present.

A Mediation of Theories and Practice

Though the three theories briefly described...
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