Dissertation
In Search of Empathetic Judges: The Role of Gendered, Raced, and Positional Experience in Forming the Judicial Role
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000002469
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/120729
Abstract
Politicians and jurists routinely discuss the qualities they would like to see in judges, but few qualities have drawn as much recent debate as that of empathy. In particular, a debate has emerged between politicians and jurists on the right, who argue a good judge is like an umpire who calls balls and strikes, while politicians and jurists on the left have increasingly emphasized the importance of empathy, compassion, and the lived experiences of judges. Political science research has largely left the discussion of empathy in the judicial role to legal scholars, psychologists, and others since the 1980s, preferring instead to study how demographic and identity differences shape judicial decision making. Through the use of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I investigate how judges of various gender, racial, ethnic, and positional backgrounds conceptualize what it means to be a “good judge” and what role they believe empathy plays in the work they do. I find that while judges generally value empathy in the work they do, judges’ gendered experiences, racial and ethnic experiences, and positions within the judicial hierarchy lead them to differing conceptualizations of “the good judge” and express empathy in different ways in their work. I argue these different lived experiences lead judges to express “different voices” in their conceptualizations of the judicial role.
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Details
- Title
- In Search of Empathetic Judges: The Role of Gendered, Raced, and Positional Experience in Forming the Judicial Role
- Creators
- Brenden Scott Higashi
- Contributors
- Cornell W Clayton (Advisor)Travis N Ridout (Committee Member)Michael F Salamone (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 186
- Identifiers
- 99900606857401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation