Holding the Accountability Problem Accountable: Response Mechanisms to Counter-Majoritarian Decisions

Abstract

If the Supreme Court rules against the wishes of the majority, how can that majority respond? I argue that while federal judges will never stand for election, majorities can employ various response mechanisms to counter-majoritarian decisions. I draw out observable expectations for inter-branch, local, and electoral responses. I then test these expectations in cases from the "mature" New Deal-communism, school prayer, busing, and abortion-showing the range of effective results achieved by anti-Court majorities. Given these results,