| This dissertation examines the interaction between the presidency and the Supreme Court.Specifically,it reveals the three means of the president influencing the process and outcome of the Supreme Court decision making.The dissertation analyzes the feasibility of the means based on Judicial Politics theories and Judicial Behavior theories,and takes the case of Roberts Court to examine the validity of the means.The most traditional and well-known means of the president influencing the Supreme Court is nominating like-minded justices into the Court thus shaping the natural court.The president can also participate in the very process of deciding a case through the Solicitor General,the main access and representative of the executive branch before the Court,in approximately two-thirds of the cases.The president can change the public opinion on certain issues with his own prestige and charisma and the public opinion can actually be noticed by the justices,thus further pushing the influence of the president to the Court.Although this means can only have indirect impacts,public opinion can sometimes make a significant difference on the judicial decision making.Taking Roberts Court as a case,this dissertation presents the means of the president affecting the decision making of the Supreme Court,provides a new perspective on the president's means of promoting his political agenda,and reveals the actual operation of the “separation of powers” and “checks and balances”,as well as the real situation of “Judicial Independence” of the United States.With the intensity of partisan polarization and dysfunction of the Congress,the judiciary plays an increasingly important role on the questions of immigration,gun-control,electoral district and so on.The research on the process and contributing factors of the Supreme Court decision making could provide us with a clearer picture of the American judicial institution,and of the American politics and society as a whole. |
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