Supreme Court Legitimacy

“The judicial system of the United States promotes the equal right of participation by allowing a single individual who has been harmed by a law to challenge its constitutionality. People who have financial resources or who can find support from organized interests may fare better than those who have to act on their own” (Geer et al, 2016, 532). In the last decades, the Supreme Court has lost its capability to base its legitimacy only in its legal experience, nevertheless it has won public support as a new source of legitimate authority. Because of the increased in public understanding that legal experience does not award the Court with specific answers, the Court has lost some experience as a source of legitimacy. As a result of scientific surveys/polls of public opinion and its current centrality in the public mind, the Court has open a new source of …show more content…
These changes impacted, as well as the lessons of the Court that took line of decision-making, an example we have Brown v. Board of Education. An important factor in the balance of political power and consequently occurred in the understanding of the Court Rehnquist their own sources of legitimacy. The Court maintains its legitimacy as an institution by accession in the visible cases, the position to guarantee public confidence for the Court. In the absence of public belief in their experience, adherence to public opinion rather than directives justification based on experience theory may seem the only viable tactic to ensure that the Court can maintain their public support. The Court public awards support since the theory of the public confidence legitimation ensures that the Court is in tune with public opinion on the issues decided in the most prominent cases most of the time. “Although the Supreme Court is not directly accountable to the public, it is to some degree responsive to public opinion” (Geer et al, 2016,