Judicial Elections articles on Democracy Chronicles

Judicial elections in the United States have undergone a dramatic transformation recently. Today, partisan political groups are spending big money to elect their favorite judges raising serious issues of independence, integrity and impartiality. The possibility of corrupt and even secretive influence bought by funding candidates for the bench raises serious concern. While it is possible that the use of judicial elections may be a workable system for selecting judges, the threat of turning judges into politicians remains evident. Also see our section on American democracy and our Supreme Court articles.