The Law “Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It”: Public Perceptions of FDR’s Court‐Packing Plan
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2019-01-18
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William D. Blake, The Law “Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It”: Public Perceptions of FDR’s Court‐Packing Plan , Presidential Studies Quarterly, Volume 49, Issue 1 , 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12513
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: William D. Blake, The Law “Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It”: Public Perceptions of FDR’s Court‐Packing Plan , Presidential Studies Quarterly, Volume 49, Issue 1 , 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12513, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/psq.12513. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Access to this item will begin on January 18, 2021
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: William D. Blake, The Law “Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It”: Public Perceptions of FDR’s Court‐Packing Plan , Presidential Studies Quarterly, Volume 49, Issue 1 , 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12513, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/psq.12513. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Access to this item will begin on January 18, 2021
Abstract
This article presents the first cross‐sectional analysis of attitudes toward Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Court‐packing plan and seeks to evaluate whether citizens viewed this episode through a partisan or constitutional lens. While public opinion opposed the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the New Deal, most Americans also opposed Court packing as a means to resolve this constitutional conflict. Instead, the analysis finds significantly more support for a New Deal constitutional amendment across most subgroups, including Democrats and individuals who believed the Constitution is too difficult to amend. These results not only inform debates about New Deal constitutionalism, but also they provide context for recent discussions about court packing, as constitutional norms continue to erode under Donald Trump.