Hey, Voter: What Do You Think of the “Axiom of 80”?

In my research on elections for judges, I came across Prof. Charles Geyh’s “Axiom of 80.” Drop me a line at m-leroy@illinois.edu if you have a thought about this.

Efforts to address threats to independence that arise in the context of selecting judges must take into account four political realities, that together constitute what I am calling the “Axiom of 80”: (1) Roughly 80% of the public prefers to select its judges by election and does so; (2) Roughly 80% of the electorate does not vote in judicial elections; (3) Roughly 80% of the electorate cannot identify the candidates for judicial office; and (4) Roughly 80% of the public believes that when judges are elected, their decisions are influenced by the campaign contributions they receive.

Prof. Geyh discouragingly concludes that “reformers conceded to the political necessity of judicial elections long ago, and now many appear poised to raise the white flag on merit selection systems that split the difference between purely appointive models and contested elections.” Photo credit to The Economist.