Jacksonian democracy installed popular partisan election of judges nationwide

Evidence

During the Jacksonian era, many states underwent a democratizing process, removing property-holding requirements for voting and providing for popular election of most governmental officials, including judges, to secure greater accountability. By the Civil War, 24 of the 34 states had instituted popular (partisan) election of judges, and every new state from Iowa in 1846 to Arizona in 1912 provided for an elective judiciary. Most states that currently elect judges in partisan elections initially adopted this mode of selection during the nineteenth century. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 408

Categorization

• XREF: This genealogy of elected judges underlies the modern debate over judicial independence and accountability — connects to course debate on whether judges should be insulated from public opinion. — connects to: Partisan election of appellate judges operates in nine states — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 386; Political selection fills the courts with judges holding established partisan views — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2571; Judicial selection reform moved historically from partisan to nonpartisan elections to merit selection — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 409 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Judicial selection systems reflect successive eras of political reform since 1789 #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 407
• Electoral rules have long served partisan entrenchment across American history #expands (0.80) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 83
• Political selection fills the courts with judges holding established partisan views #expands (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2571
• Judges bring long-established political views to the bench because selection is itself political. #expands (0.76) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1301
• Reconstruction-era southern states temporarily reversed the elective-judge trend #contradicts (0.74) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2166
• Judicial selection reform moved historically from partisan to nonpartisan elections to merit selection #qualifies (0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 409