Strategic Leadership and Political Change on the Canadian Supreme Court: Analyzing the Transition to Chief Justice

Abstract

. This study discusses theoretical concepts from two strands of public law literature, namely rational choice accounts of strategic behaviour and notions of judicial leadership, and examines their relevance for explaining changes in judicial behaviour on the Canadian Supreme Court. Specifically, we test whether a justice who is elevated to the chief position strategically alters his/her patterns of judicial behaviour. The study uses a multiple regression equation that controls for rival hypotheses, and uncovers evidence of strategic change by all three modern chief justices. While Justices Dickson and Lamer appear to have consolidated their position as task leaders once they were promoted to the helm of the Court, Justice McLachlin made a remarkable change in her dissent behaviour to emerge as the preeminent social leader on her own Court. The study demonstrates that rational choice models of strategic behaviour and judicial leadership are useful theoretical frameworks for explaining changes in behaviour once recent Canadian justices were promoted to the chief position. Moreover, the findings illustrate the importance of incorporating critical institutional features when studying changing behaviour in other high courts around the world.Résumé. Cette étude discute des concepts théoriques de deux composantes de la littérature du droit public, à savoir les témoignages de choix rationnel en fait de comportement stratégique et les notions de leadership judiciaire, et examine leur pertinence pour expliquer les changements de comportement judiciaire à la Cour suprême du Canada. Plus précisément, nous cherchons à déterminer si un juge qui devient juge en chef impose des changements stratégiques à son comportement judiciaire. L'étude utilise une équation de régression multiple qui neutralise les hypothèses rivales, et découvre des preuves de changement stratégique chez les trois juges en chef contemporains. Tandis que les juges Dickson et Lamer semblent avoir consolidé leur position de responsables de tâche après leur accession à la tête de la Cour, Madame le juge McLachlin transforma son comportement de dissidente pour devenir le leader social confirmé de sa propre Cour. L'étude démontre que les modèles de choix rationnel en fait de comportement stratégique et de leadership judiciaire sont des cadres théoriques utiles pour expliquer les changements de comportement des juges canadiens récemment promus à la position de juges en chef. En outre, l'étude démontre qu'il est important d'incorporer certaines caractéristiques institutionnelles clés lorsqu'on examine les changements de comportement dans d'autres tribunaux de grande instance de par le monde.

Stability and Change: Policy Evolution on the Supreme Court of Canada, 1945–2005

“…McLachlin, in particular, maintained an average position, yet remained fluid from one natural court to the next, which might suggest strategic action on her part. Wetstein and Ostberg (2005) find that Dickson, Lamer and McLachlin showed strategic action by being less likely to dissent after becoming Chief Justice, which corresponds with the evidence presented here. Consistent with Alarie and Green (2009b) and Ostberg and Wetstein (2007), Iacobucci remains consistent as a centrist over time.…”

Collegial Influence and Judicial Voting Change: The Effect of Membership Change on U.S. Supreme Court Justices

“…For example, scholars have observed long‐term changes in behavior of associate justices who move to the chief justice chair on the U.S. Supreme Court (Lanier & Wood 2001). On the Supreme Court of Canada, Wetstein and Ostberg (2005) find that the promotion to chief justice increases the number of majority opinions a justice writes and decreases the number of dissenting votes (though, interestingly, save Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, not the number of dissenting opinions authored). The effect may be particularly robust on the Supreme Court of Canada, given the chief justice's power to strike panels of different sizes.…”

Back to the Future: Historical Political Science and the Promise of Canadian Political Development

“…Many of these dealt with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . By the turn of the millennium, the Supreme Court of Canada had produced a sizeable jurisprudence that could be plumbed by scholars wanting to understand how judicial decisions are made (McCormick, 2004; Smithey, 2001; Songer and Johnson, 2007; Songer and Sinparapu, 2009; Wetstein and Ostberg, 2005), how courts have changed (or not) patterns of political behaviour and mobilization (Abu-Laban and Nieguth, 2000; Clarke, 2006; Hausegger and Riddell, 2004; Hennigar, 2004; Kelly, 2001; Morton and Allen, 2001; Scholtz, 2009; Vengroff and Morton, 2001; Webber, 2009), and how the Charter has (or has not) transformed the way in which rights are discussed, understood, and deployed as political resources (Brodie, 2001; Green, 2000; Macfarlane, 2008; M. Smith, 2002). Nor was this spike of interest confined to the Charter.…”