Justin Wedeking

Research Interests:
Judicial Politics
Law
Political behavior
Political psychology
Text processing
Survey Research
Psychology and law
Education

Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Research

Justin Wedeking received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.  His dissertation, titled, "Elite Framing and Supreme Court Decision Making," examined how legal actors frame arguments and make decisions.  His areas of specialization are judicial behavior and decision making, judicial process, oral arguments, Supreme Court confirmation hearings, media coverage of the Supreme Court, and the role of courts in American society.  Secondary areas include computer text analysis, public opinion, and political psychology. He recently finished serving as the Editor for the Journal of Law and Courts. 

His research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, he is past editor of Journal of Law and Courts, and he has coauthored four books on various topics related to the U.S. Supreme Court (two with Cambridge University Press and two with the University of Michigan Press). He has also published numerous articles in various outlets, such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Law & Society Review, Journal of Law and Courts, American Politics Research, Political Behavior, Social Science Quarterly, Justice System Journal, Judicature, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, and several contributions in various law reviews and chapters in edited volumes.

His research has been covered in the New York Times, PBS, NPR, SCOTUSBlog, McClatchy Newspapers, Miller-McCune, and CQ Weekly among others.

 

Selected Publications:

See CV for full list of publications.

  • The Conscientious Justice: How Supreme Court Justices' Personalities Influence the Law, the High Court, and the Constitution. 2020. Cambridge University Press (with Ryan C. Black, Ryan J. Owens, and Patrick C. Wohlfarth).
  • U.S. Supreme Court Opinions and Their Audiences.  2016. Cambridge University Press (with Ryan C. Black, Ryan J. Owens, and Patrick C. Wohlfarth).
  • Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings in the U.S. Senate: Reconsidering the Charade. 2014. University of Michigan Press (with Dion Farganis).
  • Oral Arguments and Coalition Formation on the U.S. Supreme Court: A Deliberate Dialogue. 2012. University of Michigan Press (with Ryan C. Black and Timothy R. Johnson).
  • "Predicting Drift on Politically Insulated Institutions: A Study of Ideological Drift on the United States Supreme Court," with Ryan J. Owens. Journal of Politics 2012.
  • "Supreme Court Litigants and Strategic Framing." American Journal of Political Science 2010.
  • "Justices and Legal Clarity: Analyzing the Complexity of Supreme Court Opinions," with Ryan J. Owens. Law & Society Review 2011.