The 2000 Presidential Election Controversy Manoj Mate And Matthew Wright

The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore (2000) may have decided the disputed 2000 presidential election, but in its immediate aftermath, the controversy lived on in the divisions the case caused in public opinion toward the Court itself. This chapter follows a long line of scholarship that measures the public's trust, confidence, and support for the Court in the wake of controversial decisions. The chapter analyzes data from the 2000 and 2004 National Annenberg Election Studies, which provide various measures of support for the Supreme Court both immediately before and after Bush v. Gore. The findings of short-term polarization immediately following Bush v. Gore, which recedes completely four years later, attests to the resiliency of popular attitudes toward the Court even in the face of its most "legitimacy-threatening" decisions.