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2010 Summer NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium
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Session Time :
8/5/10 1:00 PM - 8/5/10 4:00 PM
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Content Area : NC State Independent Researchers
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Lead Student Presenters : Scott Kenneth Goldsmith
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Abstract Title : Partisan Politics in N.C. Supreme Court Decisions
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Abstract :
North Carolina's judicial elections recently changed from partisan to non-partisan ballots. While the last election with partisan ballots was in 2002, the first non-partisan election occurred in 2004, allowing for statistical analysis to be conducted to see if this recent change in balloting procedure affects the decisions of State Supreme Court Justices. The dependent variable in this experiment is the North Carolina Supreme Court's decisions throughout the years between 2001 and 2004. The independent variable is whether or not the current election cycle was partisan or non-partisan. While there has been a great deal of research on how partisan elections determine the selection of judges of varying political ideologies, there is little research that has been concluded on whether or not these switches impact judicial decisions while serving on the bench. The results of observations at the North Carolina Supreme Court have shown that there is little change in the stances taken by justices when accounting for the selection process of elected justices.
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Mentor and/or Co-Author : Elisha Carol Savchak
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