Article

Measuring Maximizing Judges: Empirical Legal Studies, Public Choice Theory, and Judicial Behavior

In this brief Article, I explore the growing empirical evidence in support of the public choice model of judicial decisionmaking. Although legal scholars have traditionally been reluctant to engage in a critical inquiry into the role of judicial self-interest on judicial behav-ior, recent empirical studies confirm many of the predictions of the model. As a result, the public choice model has gained broad ac-ceptance across a range of disciplines, courts, and even the U.S. public.

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