NCJ Number
101712
Date Published
1985
Length
344 pages
Annotation
This second volume of a two-volume study of cultural influences on judicial decisionmaking in Switzerland and South Africa focuses on subcultural influences on judicial decisionmaking in the Swiss Federal Tribunal (supreme court).
Abstract
The opening chapter discusses two aspects of substantive theory, consociational democracy and biopolitics, both of which bear upon the theoretical interpretation of the study data. Chapter 2 reviews the theory and methods that guided data collection, with emphasis on the direct observation of judicial social interaction and decisionmaking. Research methods pertaining to attributes, attitudes, and decisions were used in South Africa as well as Switzerland. The Swiss interview sample consisted of 25 judges and 16 law clerks. The interview determined judicial attributes regarding language, group association, occupational and other experiences, age, and place of residence. Attitude questions in the interview focused on judicial decisionmaking processes and public policy issues. Other chapters discuss judicial ideology, observed interactions, decisions, and decisionmaking. Regression analysis and discriminant analysis determined the predictive power of judicial characteristics in relation to decisions, and partial correlation analysis was used to identify the principal statistical paths defining the influence of judicial characteristics on judicial decisionmaking. 240 references and a subject index.