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The Law “Justice Under the Constitution, Not Over It”: Public Perceptions of FDR’s Court‐Packing Plan
Author(s) -
Blake William D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12513
Subject(s) - law , constitution , political science , supreme court , constitutionalism , context (archaeology) , economic justice , public opinion , constitutional law , politics , democracy , paleontology , biology
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.