JUDICIAL SELECTION: THE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS' VIEW*

This paper is an assessment of the contributions which social scientists have made to the debate on the most appropriate mode for selecting state judges. Specific analyses of the assumptions behind differing normative positions qoverning judicial selection (e.g., accountability versus independence) are discussed. Considerable empirical research has been completed on elective and Missouri Plan systemic. It is suggested however, that more definitive conclusions might be possible through cross-system analysis. The methodological barriers to effective comparisons among the systems are high, but that area of inquiry appears to offer the potential for social scientists to make a significant policy contribution.