Supreme Court Nominations, Legitimacy Theory, and the American Public:
A Dynamic Test of the Theory of Positivity Bias*
James L. Gibson
Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government
Professor of African and African American Studies
Department of Political Science
Director, Program on Citizenship and Democratic Values
Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1063, 219 Eliot Hall
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
United States
Fellow, Centre for Comparative and International Politics
Professor Extraordinary in Political Science
Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
Gregory A. Caldeira
Distinguished University Professor
Dreher Chair in Political Communications and Policy Thinking
Professor of Law
Ohio State University
2022 Derby Hall
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1373
United States
Version 31
July 18, 2007
©
Prepared for delivery at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August
30 – September 2, 2007. Copyright by the American Political Science Association.