Correlations Between the U.S. Supreme Court and Public Opinion on the Issues of Abortion and the Death Penalty

ABSTRACT\ud CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT AND\ud PUBLIC OPINION ON THE ISSUES OF ABORTION AND THE\ud DEATH PENALTY\ud by\ud Slande Erole\ud Master of Arts in Political Science\ud California State University, Chico\ud Fall 2010\ud In this study, I examine correlations between the United States Supreme\ud Court and public opinion. Throughout this thesis, I collect and analyze public opinion\ud data regarding U.S. Supreme Court cases regarding the death penalty and abortion,\ud which I then enter into frequency distribution tables and graphs in order to determine\ud the relationship between public opinion and the Supreme Court???s decisions. Many different\ud scholars note that the Supreme Court must pay special attention to public opinion\ud if it wants to maintain its legitimacy and also because the Court cannot fully control the\ud policy outcomes of its decisions. Other scholars have also explained that the Supreme\ud Court is indirectly influenced by public opinion through the selection and nomination\ud process. Though the American public may not be able to directly control the actions of\ud xi\ud the Supreme Court, it can influence the actions of members of Congress, who in turn\ud can exert pressure on the Court. Ultimately, the research I conduct in this thesis shows a\ud correlation between Supreme Court decisions and public opinion. In almost every case,\ud public opinion regarding the particular questions asked in the cases match with the resulting\ud decision handed down by the Court. Though the Court may protect minority\ud rights in some cases, it is still a majoritarian branch of government in that it does pay\ud attention to public opinion, something which it must do in order to secure its legitimacy\ud and set enduring policies.CSU, Chic