The impact of Bush v. Gore on public perceptions and knowledge of the Supreme Court

To those who pay close attention to the United States Supreme Court, the Court’s involvement in the 2000 Presidential election through its decisions concerning recounts of the vote in Florida was an extremely important, perhaps watershed, event in the Court’s role in the American political and legal system. The volume and tone of the online and print discussions about the Supreme Court actions among political scientists and law professors has been heated, contentious, and at times strident (see, for example, Bork 2001; Dionne and Kristol 2001; Sunstein and Epstein 2001). A central concern among many of the commentators, particularly critics of the decision, is that the Court may have undermined its own legitimacy, at least among those members of the public who had been ardent supporters of Al Gore (or ardent opponents of George W. Bush).