William D. Blake

"Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It": Public Perceptions of FDR's Court-Packing Plan

Journal article

William D. Blake
Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 49(1), 2019, pp. 204-18
DOI: 10.1111/psq.12513
Cite

Cite

APA   Click to copy
Blake, W. D. (2019). "Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It": Public Perceptions of FDR's Court-Packing Plan. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 49(1), 204–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12513

Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Blake, William D. “&Quot;Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It&Quot;: Public Perceptions of FDR's Court-Packing Plan.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 49, no. 1 (2019): 204–18.

MLA   Click to copy
Blake, William D. “&Quot;Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It&Quot;: Public Perceptions of FDR's Court-Packing Plan.” Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 1, 2019, pp. 204–18, doi:10.1111/psq.12513.

BibTeX   Click to copy 

@article{blake2019a,
  title = {"Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It": Public Perceptions of FDR's Court-Packing Plan},
  year = {2019},
  issue = {1},
  journal = {Presidential Studies Quarterly},
  pages = {204-18},
  volume = {49},
  doi = {10.1111/psq.12513},
  author = {Blake, William D.}
}
This article presents the first cross-sectional analysis of attitudes toward Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Court-packing plan and seeks to evaluate whether citizens viewed this episode through a partisan or constitutional lens. While public opinion opposed the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the New Deal, most Americans also opposed Court packing as a means to resolve this constitutional conflict. Instead, the analysis finds significantly more support for a New Deal constitutional amendment across most subgroups, including Democrats and individuals who believed the Constitution is too difficult to amend. These results not only inform debates about New Deal constitutionalism, but also they provide context for recent discussions about court packing, as constitutional norms continue to erode under Donald Trump.
Share