The Power of Presidential Partisanship: Going Public on Court Reform

ABSTRACT Recent years have seen a rise in calls to reform the supreme court. We conducted a novel survey experiment in which we presented framed messages highlighting executive rhetoric about both negative outcomes at the court and support for adding term limits to justice's time on the bench. We vary whether these comments are attributed to government officials, former President Trump, or President Biden. We predict that copartisans react to the framed messages, increase their support for the policy of term limits, and express electoral support for a president. Conversely, we predict that partisans decrease support for these measures if the messages are attributed to an out‐party president. Our research sheds light on the evolving relationship between executives, the public, and the supreme court and is useful in understanding conceptions of American democracy and institutional reform.