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Journal of Theoretical Politics
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The Choices Judges Make

Court Rulings, Personal Values, and Legal Constraints

Martin van Hees

Bernard Steunenberg

In this paper we focus on the way in which courts affect public policy. We present a model of judicial behavior that combines insights from theories emphasizing the importance of policy preferences with those suggesting that courts are only motivated by formal-legal criteria. By embedding our model of judicial choice in a broader context of political decision-making we show how judges are able to affect policy and under what circumstances the judiciary will change their legal interpretations. The model is applied to decision-making by the Dutch Supreme Court on euthanasia to illustrate its main features.

Key Words: court decision making • euthanasia • game theory • judicial behavior • public policy

Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 12, No. 3, 305-323 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/0951692800012003003
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