The Evolution of State Courts Research in the Twenty-First Century

What the paper says

This review essay documents research on state courts throughout the last 25 years, tracking many of the important changes affecting state courts. Since State Politics & Policy Quarterly ( SPPQ ) began publication in 2001, research on state courts has evaluated a diverse range of topics, including traditionally important areas like the decisions of state judges, the effectiveness of elections for promoting accountability, public attitudes toward state courts, and judicial diversity, among other lines of study. In this essay, we describe the continued development of state courts research – noting further refinement to our understanding of state courts and the development of exciting research avenues. We first present an overview of state courts research and then discuss scholarly efforts to explain the emergence of new-style judicial campaigns, as well as the defense of judicial elections that formed within the subdiscipline. From there, we describe the current state of the state courts research and address research areas in need of attention. We note the important contributions of SPPQ to the advancement of the state courts subfield, which has published more than 50 law and courts articles since its founding. By capitalizing on the methodological and substantive advantages that come from comparative inquiry, scholars have successfully addressed many important questions and challenges involving state courts.