Executives Strike Back: Political Benefits of Sanctioning the U.S. Supreme Court

Abstract Recently there have been extraordinary instances of public and political elite complaints toward the Supreme Court. Through a survey experiment, we find that when respondents read that a copartisan executive is offended by recent Supreme Court decisions and threatening to ignore future decisions, respondents increase their support of executives’ not complying with and going public against the Court. Additionally, we find that partisans reward candidates by voting for them at higher rates if they ignore a Court decision that harmed the participant’s party. Our findings hold implications for continued institutional arrangements and our understanding of the functioning of our democracy.