Abstract

The selection of a Supreme Court nominee and the confirmation process that follows are important events in the American political and legal system. In this chapter, James ben-Aaron, Paul M. Collins, Jr., and Lori A. Ringhand present a critical analysis of the state of scholarship regarding this process. The authors devote particular attention to the three major aspects of this process: nomination by the president, vetting by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and confirmation by the full Senate. In addition to reviewing the key scholarship in those areas, the authors examine the theoretical and methodological limitations of existing work and offer suggestions for future research on this important subject.